Undertale EverDeep I: Deeper
by Alan Tryth
Summary: When a mysterious force calls Glenda Adams Soliel back to Ebott, she leads an expedition into the Underground to rescue one who was left behind. Unfortunately, shifting realities soon leave her alone to wander through alternate versions of the Underground with a robot dog and a very different version of her oldest friend. Book III of the Otherwhere Legacy. AU EverDeep/J-27.
1. Prologue: Otherspace

**Prologue**

 **Otherspace**

Once upon a time, thirteen stood as One to stop a universe from collapsing, ultimately saving all of Creation from a cycle of destruction. One of the thirteen was a woman known as Glen Adams.

In truth, that was not her name; married to a long-time friend, her name was properly Glenda Adams Soleil. She was a stubborn woman, not afraid to bash her way through a problem should the need arise. At the moment, however, the direct approach was of no use; she had to be slow and methodical, and it was driving her insane.

She worked at a makeshift workbench made from old test cubes, a tech kit, and a few wooden planks, not far from the tree in the center of what could loosely be called a room. It was a strange tree; looking at first glance like a normal oak tree with its branches spread across the room and intertwined with each other, forming not only the ceiling but a sort of outer wall of branches that grew all the way back into the dirt as secondary roots. The outer wall was unbroken save for where they formed the frame for a wooden door bearing the sign, "Please use Other Door". A small stream burbled around the tree, not far from where Glenda worked, the water constantly flowing in an endless circle.

"Grrgh!" She threw down the wrench and pushed away from the table, her chair floating back over the dirt and grass as she rubbed her eyes. Behind her, the leaves of the tree in the center of the room rustled ever so slightly.

"I'm not giving up." She said, as though the tree had spoken. "I'm just … frustrated, that's all."

The tree, unsurprisingly, didn't respond. Glenda stopped over and splashed some water on her face. The cool liquid felt good on her sweat-soaked brow, and helped clear her thoughts.

"All right, Glen, focus." Taking a deep breath, she moved back to the workbench, where a beat up KEI-9 unit lay motionless.

Glen was no stranger to technology; as the head of Gineracorp, one of the largest technology firms on Vinta, she herself had designed quite a few useful devices. Not the least of these tools were the Universal Builder's Tools. The twin arm-mounted machines were easily customizable with a variety of construction tools, and essentially made the wearer a one-person construction team. Her own pair, nicknamed 'Headache', lay under the makeshift workbench.

Brute force, however, did not help her pick out the errant bits of programming still stored in the KEI-9′s hardware. It didn't help her create a stable AI matrix even with her friend's instructions, and it certainly didn't bring her friend Jake back to life after he gave himself to restore said friend.

The sad fact of the matter was that while Glen had no small amount of experience with artificial intelligence, she didn't know much about putting one together herself. Her inventions were tools, capable tools yet still needing the guidance of the carrier's mind to accomplish anything. She was sure the ghost still existed in this machine; she just didn't know where.

Still, that didn't stop her from trying. If she'd learned anything from being separated from her friends and family, it was that she wasn't willing to take even one for granted. She checked every internal component of the KEI-9 unit for scraps of the personality that was Jake, and her search was not in vain; small snippets of coding still remained, which she eagerly integrated into the makeshift construct EDI assembled for her.

While every small success brought with it a feeling of triumph, she knew that there was still a long way to go; the bits she'd assembled were hardly enough to restore the vibrant and cheery personality she'd come to think of as a little brother of sorts. Still, it was a necessary step. Besides, she might as well do something while they were still in transit.

The leaves rustled again, prompting a sigh from Glen.

"I'm going as fast as I can." She said. "This isn't easy work, you know. Jake was operational for centuries; even if I can somehow piece him back together-"

There was another rustle, this one louder. Several roots rose creaking from the ground, twisting and bending into several rectangular shapes. Their purpose was clear soon enough as holographic interfaces sprang to life within the rectangles.

Frowning, Glen kicked off the workbench, her chair floating toward the console. Steadying herself on the roots, she glanced over the console and smiled. "Ah, good. We're almost there. I'll go ahead and close him up for now."

Kicking off the roots, she rolled back to the workbench. She caught the edge of the table, only to find the cartoon face of a dog looking back at her.

Glen's breath caught in her throat. "Jake?" She whispered, her hand touching the side of the robot dog's monitor.

The monitor rotated forty-five degrees, the cartoon dog face assuming a puzzled look.

"Jake." Glen repeated. "Can you speak?"

Jake barked.

"Is that a yes?"

Jake let out a confused whine, rotating his display again.

Frowning, Glen reached for her wrench. "All right; I'm guessing the AI matrix is up and running. Impeccable timing. I'll just take a quick look to make sure …"

Jake leapt off the table and hit the ground running. He ran across the grassy clearing, leaping over the stream encircling the tree before turning around and facing Glen.

Glen rose uncertainly, raising her hands. "Easy there, Jake. It's me, Glen. You remember me, yeah?"

Jake barked at Glen before crouching down on his front legs. Glen continued to approach, but just as she stepped over the stream, Jake jumped forward barking loudly. It was only a feint, but it fooled Glen enough for her to stumble backwards and land in the stream with a splash.

"Son of a … " She said, looking down at her wet clothes. She looked up at Jake, only for the robot dog to lean forward, a grin on his cartoon face. As she stood up, he ran behind the tree and crouched down on his front paws again, letting out a gentle 'woof'.

"All right." Glen said as she stepped out of the stream. "Very funny. Now hold still so I can-"

She stopped; as she walked around the tree, Jake hopped away, always facing her in that same crouched down position. Glen tried going around the other way, only for Jake to move in the opposite direction.

"All right." Glen said, "I'm all about play, but I really need to check yourgetoverhere!"

Glen made a leap at Jake, only for the nimble canine-bot to easily avoid her. As she pushed herself up from the ground, she found herself again looking into the silly cartoon face of a dog.

"I get it." She said, smiling. "You want to play."Jake barked again, tail end wagging.

Glen couldn't help but laugh. "Well, it looks like we've got the basics running. Still a far cry from Jake, but hey; progress is progress, right?"

Jake's monitor turned again, his dog face again looking puzzled.

"Don't you worry about it, boy." Glen said rising to her feet just as the console beeped. She glanced at it, her smile widening. Crouching down and resting her elbows on her knees, Glen looked Jake in the monitor and said, "Say; you wanna go for walkies?"

Jake barked, his legs impatiently tramping the nearby grass flat.

"All right then." Glen said, rubbing the top of his monitor. "Ebott awaits."


	2. Chapter 1 - The Town of Ebott

**Chapter 1**

 **The Town of Ebott  
**

The town of Ebott (built around the mountain of the same name) was a town out of time. Where most settlements on Earth were filled with gleaming skycrapers, shuttle traffic, and glowing displays of the twenty-third century, Ebott seemed to be firmly set in the twenty-first; old privately-owned homes, mom-and-pop stores, stone-paved paths and cement roads, and old-fashioned automobiles configured to run with standard power sources rather than fossil fuels.

It wasn't that the technology wasn't available; the Alliance offered their assistance in 'upgrading' Ebott on several occasions. The mayor even asked the citizens to take a vote on it, and every time the new tech was turned down. There was the occasional modern computer in the private ownership of tech-savvy residents, and the local doctors had all the latest medical equipment, but for the most part Ebott townsfolk preferred their town as it was, with its well-tended gardens, old homes, friendly neighbors, and of course, the large fruit orchard just outside of the town.

The Ebott orchards produced a wide variety of fruit, some native only to the city, such as crab apples. Not to be confused with crabapples, crab apples are about the same size and shape as normal apples, but are covered with a sheath of leaves that dry and separate as the fruits grow ripe, giving the faint appearance of two big claws and several sets of tiny legs. the crab apples were just growing ripe enough for the claw-like leaves to unfurl when the door bearing the sign 'Please use Other Door' appeared in the side of one of the trunks, the smooth bark shifting until it looked as though the door had been there forever.

Glen stepped out of the doorway, her arms extended behind her as she stretched her stiff muscles. Jake followed shortly thereafter, the robot dog bounding out of the doorway and running around the clearing.

Chuckling at Jake, Glen glanced around for a few moments before she spotted the ancient stone wall surrounding the city proper.

"Look at that, Jake." She said, smiling. "Got us right next to the town."

Jake trotted over to Glen, a curious look on his cartoon face.

"Well, travelling in the CPD can be a bit ... random." She said, "I'm ironing it out, but sometimes I don't exactly end up where I want to end up; last time I tried moving it to a starship, it appeared on the outer hull. That was a hell of a day."

Shaking her head, she said, "Still, we're home."

Jake let out a questioning woof.

"Well, my home. C'mon; if I remember right, the gate's over that way." Glen patted the side of her leg as she walked with the wall on her left side.

Jake followed soon enough. He ran around, sniffing at every passing tree with the curiosity of a puppy seeing the outside world for the first time. Glen shook her head, a smile on her face at her friend's reaction.

As they approached the main archway that led into the city, she felt like she'd come home again after a long time. Yes, she was born in Bridges, and she eagerly looked forward to the day she'd return to her wife and home in Longshore, but after living there for hundreds of years under one alias or another, Ebott was the place she'd always think of as her hometown.

Of course, there was something else about Ebott she liked, the same thing that made the place very unique. It wasn't her friends or the festivals, it wasn't the way the city hall was built to resemble a small castle, it wasn't even the golden flowers covering the town that always seemed to be in bloom. No, what made Ebott truly unique were people like the guards currently approaching Glen. She put her hand out to stop Jake.

The first was a tall, slender fellow with no visible arms and a slightly reptilian look about him. The second was a skeleton wearing ceremonial armor. The skeleton prodded the reptilian guy forward, nodding at Glenda.

Gulping audibly, the slender fellow said, "H-halt, h-h-human. What is y-your b-b-b-"

Letting out a sigh of frustration, the skeleton said, "No, no, no! Your doing it all wrong! You have to be firm! Confident! Resolute!"

Strolling up to Glenda, the skeleton drew himself up to his full height and said, "HALT, HUMAN! YOU NOW STAND BEFORE THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAPTAIN OF THE EBOTT TOWN GUARD! STATE YOUR BUSINESS IN THIS FINE CITY, OR BE ON YOUR WAY!"

Resisting the urge to wince at the skeleton's loud voice, Glenda drew herself up and said in a voice mimicking that of the skeleton, "I'M HERE TO RACE SNAILS, EAT PIE, AND HAVE FUN!"

"IS THAT MOCKERY?" Papyrus said, his eye sockets narrowing. "HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME!"

"I'm sorry." Glen said, feigning a look of apology. "I don't know what came over me. I usually mountain an air of civility when speaking with guards."

The skeleton's eye-sockets narrowed into a look of annoyance.

Glen gave Jake a pat on the head. "Me and my buddy here just want any trouble. How's Ebott we start over, eh?"

Papyrus's boney face twitched again, his eyes now bulging out slightly.

"After all, I know you guards already have it-"

"DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT-"

"Ruff!" Jake said, a wide grin on his cartoon face.

"OH MY GOD!" Papyrus screamed, clutching his red-gloved hands to his skull. "JUST STOP ALREADY!"

Glen and Papyrus met each other's gaze for a moment, the younger guard looking nervously between the two of them until Papyrus broke down laughing, Glen following suite a moment later.

"Glenda Adams!" Papyrus said as he met her with a hug. "It has been far too long! Where have you been troublemaking?"

"Artemis Tau." Glenda said as she patted the back of his armor. "Been cracking a particularly big egg open for a friend."

"Really? Wowee! He must be making some omelette!"

"In a manner of speaking." Glen said, thinking briefly of her friend Finn Cresste and the trouble he was no doubt currently getting himself into. "Gotta say, though, it's nice to be back. There really is no place like home, you know."

"I don't know." Papyrus said, rubbing his jawbone. "I thought New Home to be quite similar!"

"It's an expression, Pap." Glen glanced at the new recruit. "Hello there! New to the town guard?"

"Yes sir!" He said, standing straight. "Guardsman Kid, sir."

"He's my protoge!" Papyrus said proudly, hugging the nervous guard to his side. "I'm grooming him to be my successor! Not that I'm planning to retire anytime soon, of course. This place would fall apart without my guardianship!"

"It would indeed." Glen said with a smile. "Well, Kid, you couldn't ask for a better Teacher than ol' Pap here. Listen well, follow his example, and you too might make sub-standard spaghetti one day."

"Exactly!" Papyrus said, missing Glen's jibe. "And now, we need to return to our training! I'm guessing I'll be seeing you later, Glen. Until then ... FAREWELL!"

Glenda watched as the skeleton and the lizard boy ran down the road, the former still nervous and the latter filled with boundless enthusiasm. Chuckling to herself, she shook her head and walked down the road, pausing only to smile wider as she heard a distant shout of , "WAIT! WHAT DID SHE SAY ABOUT MY SPAGHETTI?!"

Glen walked slowly down the main road of town, taking in the sight of new homes, shops, and parks. The town had plenty of parks, each one lovingly tended by those around. In many places, it was hard to see where parks ended and private gardens began. The homes were old affairs for the most part, arranged into small neighborhoods. Rosewood Avenue, Cherry Lane, Torchwood Drive ... each street sign brought with it a wave of nostalgia.

The town hall was the tallest building, standing at a proud four stories. They had an actual town square, with a large bell hanging above a garden of golden flowers. Once upon a time, the citizens of the town would ring the bell when there was a danger to the town. Now, the bell stood in peaceful silence, a healthy growth of ivy covering it so thickly that it was likely the handle would no longer turn. Glen gave it a playful tug as she passed by; she never could resist giving it a go.

Her path eventually led to Butterscotch Grove, a nice neighborhood arranged around a large garden filled with yellow flowers and well-trimmed topiary bushes, with a single oak tree in the very center. Glen planted that tree when she first bought the land, back when Ebott was just a village of a few hundred. There had been no monsters then, yet she remembered the townsfolk warning her away from the mountain. They claimed that anyone who tried to climb the mountain would vanish. She'd always meant to investigate that, but her own work eventually made her forget about the rumors ... at least, until the day the monsters returned.

Glen stopped and stared at the tree. For a moment, she thought she saw a short, shadowy figure standing beside the tree, peeking at her. As she squinted at the tree, however, the figure was gone. She continued staring at it for a long moment, looking for the tell-tale shimmer of a cloaking field or invisibility enchantment. When nothing was forthcoming, she shook her head and continued on her way.

The homes were well-maintained and sturdy ... as they should be, considering that Glenda had built them herself. She headed for the largest, a three-story affair with a large porch and wooden supports covered with thick growths of ivy. A wooden sign beside the door read, "The Cherry House".

Glenda smiled as she pressed the doorbell and stood back. After a few moments of silence, she heard the faint sound of the doorknob rustling, followed by a creak as the door was pulled open to reveal a woman in a modest blue dress. Had she not known better, Glen might have mistaken her for being a Tauren, one of the many tribes of Longshore on the distant world of Vinta. While the woman standing in the doorway had white fur, two horns, and a certain goat-like quality to her face, she was what the people of Ebott referred to as a Bossun, or a Boss Monster.

Her curious expression quickly turned to delight. She quickly opened the storm door and welcomed Glen with a wide-armed hug. "Glenda! My goodness, it's been a long time!"

"Hi, Tori." Glen said, returning the woman's hug. Glen was a big woman, mostly owing to her time as a Builder coupled with training for the Longshore Melee with her wife, yet even she felt small in the bossun woman's arms.

Tori held Glen's shoulders, a wide smile on her face as she looked Glen over. "My stars ... you haven't changed! Not one little bit!"

Her eyes fell to Jake. "And I see you brought a friend!"

"Ah, yes." Glen said, rubbing the top of Jake's monitor. "This is Jake. He's ... a little under the weather."

"Well, hello Jake!" She said, giving Jake a pat on the head. Jake barked happily in reply.

"You're looking well yourself, Tori." Glen said. "Sorry I didn't stop by sooner; you know how it is."

"I may know how it is, but don't think that'll get you out of telling me all the details." Tori said, guiding Glen into the Cherry House. "Come inside, and tell me all about your latest adventures."

The inside of Glenda's old home looked much as it had when she'd lived there. Oh, there were new furniture, and Toriel had moved a few things around, but for the most part it still felt like home.

Toriel guided her to the living room and into a cushy seat before hurrying off into the kitchen. Smiling, Glenda took the opportunity to glance at the books occupying the shelves beside the stone fireplace. A few were hers: 'Twelve Tribes', 'Thomas Schrade and the City of Dreams', 'Explosive Inspiration: How to become a full-fledged inventor in five explosions or less'. Most of her collection, however, had gone to her friend Mkrobi of the League of One, but Tori hadn't left the space unfilled; several cookbooks filled the once-empty space, along with a well-worn copy of a rather ominous book entitled, "72 Uses for Snails".

Toriel returned a moment later. Glenda smiled with delight as her old friend handed her a plate with a generous slice of pie that smelled faintly of cinnamon, a healthy dallop of whipped cream on top of it. .

"I baked it this morning." Tori said happily as she sat down in her own chair, right across from Glenda. "I guess part of me just knew you'd be stopping by."

Glen didn't respond; her mouth was full of butterscotch-cinnamon pie. It didn't matter that she was a Dreamer or that she'd been gone for awhile; if she talked with her mouth full, she knew Toriel would give her a scolding.

After swallowing, Glen said, "Delicious, as always."

Tori's blush was faintly visible beneath the white fur of her cheeks. Before she could say anything, however, another voice Glen would never forget asked, "Mornin' Tori. Oh, we've got company?"

Glen turned to see a short skeleton in a red floral shirt and a straw hat. His grin widened, despite the fact that just as with the guard Papyrus, it was all bone with no skin or muscle. "If it isn't the only person in Ebott who sees more of the Dream Realm than I do!"

"Hey, Sans." Glen said, shaking the skeleton's hand. "Sorry for dropping by unannounced. I hate tibia nuisance."

Tori and Sans both chuckled at this for a moment before Sans said, "Yeah, well, it's always nice to have a visit from such a humerus friend."

"Well, I hate to have been so distal. but you know how it is."

"Don't leave us in suspense; talus what you've been doing."

"I dunno; if Pap happens to walk in, you know how sternum he'll get."

"He's only like that when he's in cuniform."

"I know. Ulna-ver get over the fact you two are brothers."

"I guess I am a bit of a numb-skull."

Glen struggled mentally for a few moments before letting out a sigh. "All right, I'm out of bone-related puns."

"Really? Do you mean that?" Sans asked, the ridge above one of his eye-sockets rising. "Or do you just not have the spine for any more?"

Glen hung her head in defeat. Toriel had long since dissolved into giggles at that point. Sans chuckled for a moment as well. "Good to see ya, Glen. What kinda trouble you been up to?"

"Well, lately, I've been helping a guy named Finn Cresste take on some baddies."

"Finn Cresste?" Sans asked. "The kid who busted into the Council? Nice."

"Yeah. You know about that?"

"I think half the galaxy knows about that, Glen. It's the Council. Hey, just 'cause we don't have all the fancy technology doesn't mean we don't get the news. Besides, we've been thinkin' about taking a little space trip to Blessia."

"Might want to give that a miss for the time being." Glen said, wincing. "At least until the whole Reaper/Cerberus thing is resolved. "

"Eh, fair enough. With you helping, I'm sure they'll be on the run soon enough." Sans said with a shrug. He sat down in the chair next to Tori, his hand curling around hers.

Tori smiled at Sans for a moment before turning her attention back to Glenda. "So, are you settling down for awhile? I'm sure everyone would be glad to see you again."

"Hard to say." Glen admitted. Leaning forward, she said, "I'll be honest; I don't really know why I'm here."

"Join the club." Sans said.

Toriel gave her husband a playful smack on the arm. "Oh, Sans!"

Chuckling, Glen said, "Truth is, I came here because ... well, something seemed to want me to come back here."

"Well," Toriel said, "You have been gone awhile."

Glen shook her head. "No ... well, yes, it has been awhile, but that's not why I came back. Tori, are you missing any of your knives?"

"My cooking knives?" Tori asked, a perplexed look on her face. "Well, I don't think I'm missing any. Let me check."

As she rose from her chair and walked toward the kitchen, Sans leaned forward and asked, "How long were you really gone this time?"

"Five years." Glen said. She knew better than lying to Sans; he always knew.

"Damn. You've been busy, eh?"

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. Ended up halfway across the universe tryin' to go to Texas, ended up helping a time traveller stop a bunch of robot trash cans armed with plungers, and eventually managed to lose my damn doorknob on the krogan homeworld. That's where I met up with Finn and his crew; they were looking for an old buddy of mine. I helped them, then kinda just stuck around with the group until their most recent escapade. That's where I picked up Jake."

Jake let out a small woof before rolling over.

"Schnauzer here, huh?" Sans said.

Glen chuckled, but before she could reply, Toriel returned to the room.

"Glenda, dear, I don't know how you knew, but I am missing one of my knives."

"Fairly big one, right?' Glen said, reaching into her backpack.

"Yes, one of my serving-" She stopped as Glen pulled the knife from her pack and held it up. "My word. How did you-"

"I found this." Glen said, handing the knife back to her hilt first, "In the back of an android soldier, one from a whole troop that was massacred around the same time a psychically sensitive friend of mine started saying things she couldn't have known."

"Like?" Sans asked.

"Like, 'Do you think the worst person can change? That everyone could be a good person if they just try?'"

"That certainly sounds like Sans." Toriel glanced at her husband, only to find him staring back, a faint glimmer of blue in his left eye. "Sans?"

Sans shook his skull, the blue light quickly fading. "Sorry. You were sayin'?"

"She also recited that old jump rope rhyme the kids here made up about me. Y'know the one that goes: 'Those with darkness from her do run, one of many, and yet still One.'" Glen sighed and said, "Cerberus doesn't deal in magic, and I know they haven't got any ghosts floating around over there. This was somethin' else, something that really wanted me to come back here. The knife was the clencher. Nice knife like that, with a purposefully dulled blade? That means it's only good for pies and cakes, and that definitely made me think of you Tori."

"I don't understand." Toriel said, a worried look on her face. "Do you think that we had something to do with this?"

"No." Glen said instantly, shaking her head. "But something definitely wanted me to come back here. I'd really like to know why."

"Ah, come on, Glen." Sans said, giving a chuckle that had just a hint of nervousness in it. "It's like you're trying to scare us or somethin'. If this was some psychic thing, maybe they got it from your brain, eh? Cerebrumsly."

"Maybe." Glen said, "But there's one other thing; it was tied around the hilt of the knife."

She pulled out the folded paper and handed it to Sans. He slowly unfolded it and stared at it for a few moments. "Okay." He said, handing it to Tori, "Now that's just creepy."

Tori looked for a long time. "Sans." She said, her hand reaching for his.

"I know." He said, taking her hand. "I recognize it too."

"What?" Glen asked.

"This picture was on our fridge, Glen." Sans said, handing the paper back to Glen. "We thought someone threw it away by accident. That means whatever's been messin' with you's messin' with us too."

Glen stared at the picture. It was a drawing in colored pencils of most of her closest friends in Ebott, with an odd image of a crying flower shrouded in darkness below the smiling monsters.

"This is just too weird." Glen said, scratching her head. "It's like someone was pointing me back here, to you guys specifically. I just wish I knew why."

After a long moment of silence, Sans rose from his chair. "Let's go ask the artist."


	3. Chapter 2 - Innocence and Mercy

**Chapter 2**

 **Innocence and Mercy**

Glen was known throughout Ebott, being something of a heroine to the populace, both for her contributions to the town and for protecting Ebott during several wars, not the least of which was the Reaper War. Even she, however, paled in comparison to Frisk, the true hero of Ebott.

Frisk sat in her room, a quilted cloak over her tiny shoulders as she drew on page after page. Her pictures covered the walls of her room, and of the hallway outside: pictures of her friends, of Toriel and Sans, of Papyrus and all her other friends. There were even a few pictures of 'Auntie' Glenda. Some thought her simple, others claimed she had a mental condition that left her forever a child. Those who truly knew her knew better, however; she was a child of light, a rare creature untouched by darkness. Even in Glen's experience, such a person was a rarity.

She looked up as Sans opened the door to her room and stepped inside. A smile crossed her face as she quickly stood up and sprinted toward the skeleton, wrapping her small arms around his legs in a tight hug.

"Hey, kiddo." He said, his skeletal smile loving as he ruffled her hair. "Ya got company."

The little girl peered around Sans to see Toriel and Glen. With squeal of delight, she ran over to Glenda. As she ran, the cloak wrapped around her slid to the ground, revealing a pair of blue and purple butterfly wings. They propelled her into the air and into Glenda's waiting arms.

Glenda hugged the little girl close. "Aww ... I missed you too, Frisk."  
The little girl pulled back slightly, grinning at the Dreamer. Her hands moved quickly, but not so quickly that Glenda couldn't keep up.

"A present?" Glenda said in mock surprise. "What makes you think I'd bring you a present?"

Frisk made a face at her and crawled over Glenda's shoulder. Glenda caught Frisk's legs as the little girl as she slipped her hands into the pockets of Glenda's denim shorts, only to pull out a small silver bauble.

She slid down Glenda's legs and held up the bauble, smiling. Smiling back, Glenda took the bauble and threw it in the air. Imemdiately, it burst into a cloud of butterflies of all colors. Frisk spun around in delight as the butterflies fluttered around her, her own wings flapping as well.

Glenda snapped her fingers. The butterflies immediately flew together, reforming the bauble.

As Frisk picked it up, Glenda said, "I brought a friend too. Jake?"

The robot dog walked into the room. Frisk let out another squeal and immediately flew toward Jake, who seemed surprised but eager of the attention.

Frisk hadn't always had wings of course; once upon a time, she'd been a little human girl. After running away from her abusive parents, the kind-hearted child wandered the caverns beneath the mountain and ultimately helped free the monsters from their prison.

With Toriel and Sans taking her in as their own, she'd been happy. Unfortunately, the sickness had come on without warning. With her temperature rising, her body failing, her chances falling, and little else to lose, Toriel and Sans eventually turned to Glenda for a cure, any cure ... and Glenda had delivered, even if the end result had been ... unexpected.

"So." Glenda said, handing her the drawing of the sad flower. "You drew this, right?"

Frisk nodded enthusiastically. She pointed at the flower with one hand, her other already moving so fast it was nearly a blur.

"Friend in trouble." Glenda said as the little girl spelled it out with one hand. "Your friend needs help?"

Nodding, Frisk suddenly lowered her hands, a sad look on her face.

"What is it, my child?' Toriel asked, putting her hand on Frisk's shoulder. "What is wrong? Who is in trouble?"

Frisk rubbed the hand of the woman who was now, as Sans often put it, her Mom-ster. Her eyes went to Glenda, however. Noting a strange pleading in the little girl's eyes, Glenda said, "Tori, I think a piece of pie may be in order to loosen our little hero's lips."

"Oh! Of course!" Tori gave Frisk a kiss on the forehead and said, "I'll be right back, my child."

Sans started to follow, but Glen quickly stopped him at a look from Frisk. The puzzled look on the skeleton's face almost made her laugh.

Once Tori was gone, Glenda set Frisk on the ground. "Okay, so whoever's in trouble is someone you don't want to mention in front of your mother because ..."

Frisk balled up her hands and rubbed her eyes dramatically.

"Because you don't want to make her sad?" Glen looked at Sans, who shrugged. If anything, he looked even more mystified.

"All right." Glen said, "Who is it?"

Frisk's hands moved slowly, as though she wanted to make sure Glen caught every letter.

"A-S- ... Asgore? Is it Asgore?"

Frisk blew a rasberry at Glen and bonked her on the head before pressing a finger to her mouth and starting over.

Sans and Glen watched in silence as Frisk spelled out a name. Glen didn't recognize it, but from the sharp intake of breath from Sans, the name meant something to him.

"Who is-" Glen stopped; Now Sans's finger was pressed to her mouth. He jerked his head slightly toward the door. After a few moments, Glen noticed the shadow under the door; Toriel was standing outside.

Sans motioned toward the window. At a flick of his wrist, it silently swung open, revealing the beautiful day outside. Frisk was the first to leave, her wings making no sound as she flew through the open window. Glen moved to go next, but as she drew neared the window, she felt her body get extremely light. Some invisible force lifted her and a very confused Jake and carried them silently out the window, but not before Sans signed the name 'Grillby'. Glen nodded in acknowledgement, which he returned before gesturing toward her and Jake, carefully lowering them to the ground.

"Okay, Frisk." Glenda said as the little girl straightened her blue and purple-striped shirt. "Is Grillby's still in the Snowdin Quarter?"

Seeing her nod, Glen said, "Good. Sans will meet with us there; in the meantime, why don't you climb on Jake's back and tell me everything you know about this Asriel."

By the time Sans joined them at the bar in Grillby's, Frisk had explained everything. Glen wasn't sure she understood all of it, but she understood enough. Frisk was munching her way through an order of fries (and occasionally passing a few to Jake, who sat beside her) as Sans took a seat.

"Hey, Fuku." Sans said, waving at the woman of green fire who stood behind the counter. "I'll have the usual."

"Sure thing, Mister Sans." She picked up a red bottle of ketchup and sat it on the counter. "Anything else?"

"Nah, I'm good. Tell your dad I hope he gets to feelin' better, all right? He didn't look so hot the last time I saw him."

If she noticed the pun, she gave no indication of it as she walked away. Shrugging, Sans picked up the bottle of ketchup and took a deep drink before sighing and turning to Glen. "Okay, so Asriel is-"

"Toriel and Asgore's son, right?" Glenda finished. "Which is why Frisk didn't want to mention him in front of Tori. Speaking of, is she okay?"

"She's a little annoyed, but I convinced her you two just needed to take a walk. Mind you, anyone else, and she'd be here throwing fire; you know how protective she is."

"Yeah, I remember." Glenda said, rubbing the back of her head. "All right; so let me see if I've got this right; Asriel was-ow!"

Sans let out a chuckle; Frisk had hit Glenda without looking away from her fries.

"Sorry, Frisk. I of course meant Asriel is the son of Toriel and Asgore. After the human child they adopted died, he absorbed her soul and carried her back to the old village of Ebott way back before even I lived there. The villagers freaked out and attacked, but he stopped himself from retaliating and carried her body back to the Underground before dying."

Glancing at Frisk, Glenda asked, "So far, so good?"

Frisk gave her a thumbs up, but quickly brought her hand down to stop Glenda from sneaking a french fry. Unfortunately for her, Glenda had two hands, and managed to snag one before Frisk could react.

Ignoring the sulking child now moving her fries out of Glenda's reach, Glenda said, "But then Alphys, then the Royal Scientist, accidentally brought him back as a flower named Flowey. Wow; that's a sentence I just said."

Chuckling, Sans said, "Okay, I guess it does sound a bit strange."

"Did I mention I was recently travelling with a krogan chef?" Glenda said, prompting a laugh from Sans. "Strange is life for me, man. So this Flowey was given determination but he couldn't feel anything because he had no soul. Eventually, he tried to stop Frisk, but our little hero helped him realize what he was doing was wrong. He broke the barrier, but without the souls, he was gonna become a flower again."

Frisk nodded. She pushed her fries away, her expression sad.

"He was afraid that he might try and hurt you again, so he stayed behind." Glenda said, patting Frisk on the back.

She nodded and sniffed. Glenda saw the tears in her eyes and patted her on the back again.

"You think that's why somethin' was callin' you here?" Sans asked as Jake quietly tipped the basket of fries into his monitor before nudging it back onto the counter just as Frisk reached for another fry. Not finding any left, she stuck her tongue out at Jake before crossing her arms and pointedly ignoring him.

"Dunno." Glenda said, trying not to smile at Jake and Frisk. "But it's a good place to start. Don't worry, Frisk; if there's a way to save him, I promise you I'll find it."

Frisk beamed at Glen and hugged her arm tightly.

Chuckling, Glen patted her head. "I gotta ask, though; why now? I mean, it's been decades. I know you were in and out of stasis for awhile there while I was looking for your cure, but you had plenty of times to let me or someone else know about Asriel. Why bring it up now?"

Frisk was silent for a long time. Slowly, she picked up the mustard bottle and used it to draw on her now empty basket. Glenda recognized the symbol she was drawing before she even finished.

"The Inverse Harmonius." Glenda breathed. "Where did you see this?"

Frisk pointed to her head.

"In your mind? In your thoughts?" Sans guessed.

An annoyed look fell over Frisk's face. She poked Glenda in the shoulder and looked at her expectantly.

"Me? What about ... oh! In your dreams! You've seen the symbol in your dreams!"

Frisk nodded, a satisfied look on her face.

Sans shook his head before taking a long drink from his ketchup bottle. "Okay, so she's seen this harmonius thing in her Dreams. What's that mean?"

"The Inverse Harmonius was formed from a piece of shattered reality." Glenda said. "It allows travel between dimensions, but it can be hard to control. I don't mind tellin' ya, I've been looking for it for a long time now. Still, if you're seeing it in your dreams, I'm guessing something got to it first.

She nodded. This time, she pulled out a folded piece of paper. Glenda's stomach fell before she even finished unfolding it, as she could see the heavy use of black crayon through the paper. Once it was fully opened, Frisk turned it so that Glenda could see it.

The face that stared back at her was frightening, so much so that both Glenda and Sans recoiled at the sight of it.

"What is that?" Sans said.

Glenda shook her head. "Something bad, no doubt ... and if it's using even a fraction of the Inverse Harmonius, there's no telling where it came from."

She pulled out one final picture and set it on the counter. This one showed Flowey the flower huddled around a small yellow seven-pointed star with the monster looming over them both.

"And what is that?" Sans said, tapping the star.

"No idea." Glen said. "Whatever it is must be important if Asriel is guarding it, however."

Glenda tapped the paper a few times before finally nodding. "Where do you think he is now?"

Frisk pointed to the ground, then to the mountain.

"What, like New Home?" Sans asked.

Frisk shook her head and pointed to the ground again.

"Waterfall? Snowdin? Home?"

After a moment's hesitation, she pointed down once again.

"All the way down." Glenda said. "Fair enough. I'll head into the mountain and keep going down until there's nowhere left to go."

Glenda tossed some money on the table and stood up to leave. Sans quickly rose as well, stopping Glenda before she could leave.

"You ain't thinkin' of headin' down there alone, are ya?"

"Well, yeah, that's kinda what I do." Glen said with a shrug.

"Yeah, well you ain't doin' it alone this time." Sans said. "You've got no idea where you're goin', let alone what you're gonna be facin' down there, especially seeing as you still don't know what was leadin' you back here in the first place. Trust me, pal; you're gonna want some help. Tell ya what; meet me up at the entrance to the mountain in an hour; that'll give me time to make a few calls."

"Perhaps I could use the help." Glen admitted, though she couldn't help but wonder just what kind of team Sans would put together. "All right; I'll see you in an hour, after Jake and I take Frisk home."

Frisk crossed her arms, the annoyed look on her face making her look all the more adorable.

"Oh, no." Glen said, "You are not coming with us. Toriel would fry me alive."


	4. Chapter 3 - Down Down to the Underground

**Chapter 3**

 **Down Down to Underground**

Glen sat at the park right outside the entrance to the underground, her arms crossed as she waited beside Frisk as Toriel braided the little girl's hair. The entrance was unguarded; the underground was open to anyone who wished to view how the monsters lived before their liberation.

"Some of the younger monsters have started moving back into the old cities." Toriel said, "They call it 'retro', I believe."

"They would." Glen said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Listen, Tori, I really don't think it's a good idea-"

"Oh, hush! I may be a silly old lady, but I can still hold my own. Besides, Frisk agrees that you'll need me to show the way once we reach Home."

The smug look on Frisk's face was insufferable. She hadn't told Toriel about Asriel, but still managed to convey their need to reach the bottom of the underground. Glen would've been impressed had she not been so annoyed.

"Just ... be careful." Glen said, "Both of you, yeah? We have no idea what could be waiting down there."

"Relax, Glenda." Toriel said, tying Frisk's braids with purple ribbons before moving behind Glen. "I've been wanting to go back anyway; it's been awhile since I've seen my old place. Now hold still; I've wanted to try a half-crown braid, and Frisk's hair isn't long enough yet."

Glen sighed and held still as the bossun woman's large fingers carefully braided her hair. When Toriel was done, she stood back and asked Frisk, "What do you think?"

Frisk gave her a thumbs up. Glen walked over to the water fountain and looked at her reflection; Toriel had wrapped two of the braids around her head, giving them a crown-like appearance. The two braids joined together at the base of her neck, merging into one long braid that hung with the rest of her long hair.

"I look like a woman from a fantasy movie." She paused and tilted her head to the side to get another view. "I like it."

A grinning blue-scaled face appeared over her shoulder. "Sup, clutz?"

"Undyne?" Glen turned to greet another of her old friends. Standing just a few inches taller than Glen, Undyne had stark red hair, an eyepatch covering her left eye, and very large, pointy teeth.

Undyne gave Glen a fierce hug before punching her in what she likely thought was a playful manner. "Ha! You goin' to a prom or somethin'? What's with the fancy hair?"

"Toriel was nice enough to fix this for me." Glen said evenly.

"I was trying out something I saw in a beauty catalog.' Toriel said, smiling.

"Oh?" Undyne said, looking at the bossun woman. Coughing, she said in a quiet voice, "Well, if you want, you could try something else on me. I mean, if you're not busy or anything."

"Of course." Toriel said, patting the bench. "Sit down."

As Undyne took a seat, she said, "So, we're headin' down into the Underground, huh?"

"Sans told you?" Glen asked.

Undyne laughed until Toriel said, "Please hold still."

"Sorry. Yeah, old bone-head came and got me. Said we were goin' on a rescue mission and might have to thrash some kinda big reality-jumping monster. That's way too awesome for me to pass up!"

Glen chuckled at her old friend's fierce enthusiasm. "Hey, the more the merrier. Is Alphys coming along?"

"In a manner of speaking." said a slightly nervous yet oddly amplified voice coming from the pack at Undyne's side.

"Alphy's gonna be our spotter!" Undyne said, digging in the pack and pulling out a number of wristbands.

"That's right!" Alphys said, her voice coming from a small speaker set into every bracelet. "I've activated the old surveillance system, so I can let you know what's ahead. I know you probably wanted me there in person, but-"

"Are you kidding?" Glen said, "This is brilliant. You're in the perfect position to let us know if anything funny's going on down there." And if we do run into trouble, you can warn the city before it endangers anyone else, thought Glen.

"Oh! Well, I'll do my best!" Alphys replied, sounding a little more confident.

"Any sign of ... well, anything down there?" Glen asked, hoping Sans either didn't tell them about Asriel or that he knew Tori would be coming along and told them not to mention it.

"Well, everything seems to be normal so far." Alphys said, "But the surveillance system only goes as far as the fields west of Snowdin. I never had cameras in the old ruins, though, so what you're looking for could be over there."

"Don't worry, Alphys dear." Toriel said, "I can guide us from that point."

"All right." Glen said, slipping a band on her wrist. "Then as soon as Sans and the rest of his team get here, we'll be off."

"There." Tori said patting Undyne's shoulder. "Go have a look and tell me what you think."

Undyne hurried over to the fountain, nearly plunging her head into the water in an effort to see herself. "Whoa!" She said, running her hands around "Hey, Alphy, can you see this?"

"Y-yes. I believe that's called a waterfall braid."

Undyne grinned back at Toriel. "Waterfall braid! Ha! I love it!"

"I dunno. Looks kinda fishy to me." Sans said, approaching the group with his brother Papyrus at his side.

"Sans, this is a serious mission! We don't need the team distracted by your questionable humor!"

"Sorry, Paps. Didn't mean to make a joke of our little excursion."

"Sans!"

"Hey, Papyrus." Glen said, hoping to stop the ensuing argument. "You're coming with us?"

"But of course! As the Captain of the Ebott Town Guard, it is my responsibility to lend my considerable talents to this quest!"

He leaned closer to Glen and said in a slightly lower yet still quite loud tone, "I understand this is a rescue mission."

"In part." Glen said, resisting the urge to chuckle.

"Ah, excellent. Of course, the great Papyrus is skilled in rescuology and rescuonomy; this mission will be as easy as making spaghetti!"

Glen, who had far more experience with Papyrus's cooking than she cared to remember, was nevertheless reassured by the tall skeleton's support.

"Okay." Glen said, clapping her hands together. "Who else?"

"That's it." Sans said. "Figured we'd best stick with close friends and family. I see Frisk convinced you to let her come along."

"Yeah." Glen said, glaring at the little girl. "Convinced."

Frisk stuck her tongue out at Glen before turning her attention back to Jake. The robot dog had definitely taken a shine to her, and seemingly had no problem letting the little girl ride on his back.

"All right." Glen said as Undyne passed around the rest of the bracelets, "Just one thing left before we head off."

She held out her arms, Headache appearing on them moments later. The rest of her impulse gear materialized in place, her visor appearing last. As she slipped it over her head like a circlet.

"Whoa." Undyne said, "You're really expectin' some serious trouble down there?"

"Frankly, I don't know what to expect." Glen said, adjusting one of the arm-mounted gauntlets. "If we find trouble, though, I intend to deal with it quickly."

"Hell yeah." Undyne said, a translucent blue spear materializing in her hands. "Let's go!"

"Um, Undyne," Alphys said, her voice full of concern, "P-please be careful, okay?"

"Don't worry, sweetie!" Undyne said, giving her bracelet a kiss. "We'll be back in no time!"

As Undyne ran into the passage, Glen said, "Don't worry; we'll bring her back safe."

"Thank you, Glen." Alphys said, sounding relieved. "You be careful too, all right? I'll let you know if I see or detect anything out of the ordinary here."

With that, the group set off into the Underground. Alphys took the lead with Papyrus close on her heels, followed by Glen, Frisk and Jake, Toriel, and finally Sans at the rear. The first tunnel was long and smooth, almost unnaturally so. Lower and lower it dipped down, never turning or twisting. All too soon, the light from outside was no longer visible.

There was something, though, a slightly discordant hum that seemed to grow steadily louder as the group continued walking.

"Ugh." Glen said, trying and failing to block the hum out. "What is that?"

Toriel seemed surprised at this. "Oh! You hear it too? I thought it was just me."

"Same here." Sans said.

"Given the length of time the barrier was in place and factoring in the power needed to create and destroy it, you're probably encountering residual magical energy from the barrier." Alphys told her. "Don't worry; it's just a remnant echo; it shouldn't hurt."

"It's not hurting." Glen said, "It's just really annoying."

"Well, the effect should lessen as you pass."

"I should hope so." Papyrus said. "It is quite unsettling."

"What's wrong, bro?" Sans said, "Something rattling your bones?"

Toriel giggled as Papyrus let out a sigh. Glen wanted to chuckle, but Sans was right; she could feel the hum in her bones. If anything, it grew worse the longer they walked. Even Jake's normally cheerful cartoon face grew subdued. He whined, prompting Frisk to pat him on the top of his monitor.

Still, the door leading into the back of Dremurr Castle was visible in the distance, so Glen grit her teeth and tried not to think about it. Unfortunately, that turned out to be impossible, especially when the humming started growing increasingly loud.

Glen was about to ask Papyrus if anyone had reported it to him when Alphys's voice came through her bracelet. "Uh, guys? I'm losing feeds all across the Snowdin Area."

This brought the group to a halt.

"What?" Undyne asked, "Something smashing them?"

"N-negative." Alphys said, the nervousness in her voice growing. "They're just shutting off one by one. I'm not seeing or hearing anything from the feeds.."

"Vandals!" Papyrus said, stamping his foot. "No good hooligans out to destroy our glorius history!"

"That's the spirit!" Undyne said, cackling with glee, "Let's go thrash the punks!"

Glen opened her mouth to call the zealous monsters back when Alphys said, "Oh no ..."

"What?" Glen asked. Perhaps it was something in her tone, but Toriel quickly picked Frisk up from Jake's back.

"W-we're losing feeds in waterfall. I didn't realize it at first, but I believe ... yes, I'm sure the feeds are vanishing based on location."

"The furthest disappearing first, right?" Glen said as even Pap and Undyne started to look worried.

"Affirmative. It's always the same; the feed seems perfectly fine, then it's just gone. Glen, this just isn't possible; I have cameras all over the place, but whatever's doing this has found every single one."

"Right." Glen said, thoroughly unnerved. "Okay, everyone, we're falling back to the city."

"What?" Undyne said, sounding disappointed. "Why? Because a bunch of cameras stopped working? C'mon, Glen, those things are ancient!"

"Whatever is killing the feeds is heading our way." Glen said, Jake trotting to his side. "Very quickly. It knows right where the cameras are, and is destroying them without being seen."

"I don't-"

"Think about it!" Glen snapped. "We're the only ones who knew those cameras were still active! Now it might just be a coincidence, but it seems to me like whatever this thing is wants us to know its coming."

Undyne's eyes widened, only to widen even more when Alphys said, "The cameras in Hotland are failing!"

"We should stay and fight it!" Undyne said, gripping her spear.

"Yeah." Sans said, already following Toriel and Frisk back toward Ebott. "Let us know how that works out. C'mon, Pap."

"I can't run away! I'm the head of the Royal ..." Papyrus stopped as his body was enveloped in a blue glow. "Sans! Put me down this instant, or I swear I will write you a ticket!"

"I think you need to reevaluate your citation." Sans said, his brother's body following him and his family out of the corridor.

"Aaagh!"

"If it's attacking Ebott, we're the first line of defence!" Undyne persisted.

"All right, fine." Glen said, "But not here; it's too narrow. We'll flank the entrance and attack it as it comes out."

"The feeds in New Home are going down now." Alphys said, her own voice panicked. "Undyne, please, get out of there!"

Undyne's face paled at the sound of her wife's distress. "Flank 'em outside, right." She said before taking off running after the others with Glen close behind her.

Glen and Undyne rejoined the others outside. Almost immediately, however, Frisk grabbed Glen's arm and shook it, a panicked look on her young face.

"It's okay." Glen said, eyes still on the corridor. "We're safe, we're all safe."

Frisk shook her head, and signed four letters that made Glen's blood run cold: 'Jake'.

"Jake!" Glen shouted, turning back to the passage, only for Sans to grab her shoulder.

"You go in there and you aren't gonna make it back!" Sans said. "I know your fast, but I'm guessing we've only got seconds."

"I can't just leave him behind!" Glen said, pulling free. She took a few steps before a blue glow surrounded her.

With a sigh, she clenched her rune hand. The blue field collapsed instantly, to Sans' evident surprise. She took advantage of his shock to run back into the passage with her tek-boots flaring behind her.

Jake was still halfway down the tunnel, looking at the door at the far end with his screen partially rotated as though it were a particularly interesting bug. Swearing under her breath, Glen ran over to him, her tech boots leaving energy trails in their wake.

Just as she reached the robot dog, the door leading underground flew off its hinges, narrowly smacking into Glen's head as it flew past. Blinding light radiated from the opening, its source a strange being of light. It didn't run so much as fly toward them at a speed that even Glen found frightening. She picked up Jake and raced toward the door as fast as her tek-boots could carry her.

She was still a good distance from the end of the passage when her tek boots started to malfunction. It was just a stutter at first, but in a matter of moments the boots powered down. Glen tried to keep running, but her speed combined with the weight of Jake sent her tumbling straight into the passage floor, where her head collided against the stone with a sickening crack that made her world go dark.


	5. Chapter 4 - Deep Dremurr

**Chapter 4**

 **Deep Dremurr**

Asriel Dremurr sat alone in the small patch of golden flowers long after Frisk's departing footsteps faded. Part of him wanted to run after her, to see his parents again, but he couldn't; already he could feel his form beginning to slip away from him.

He buried his head in his hands, trying to force back the tears. Would it hurt? Would he go back to the way he'd been instantly, or would he gradually lose the remnants of soul that had filled him ever so briefly?

He hated it. He hated to go back to being that ... that monstrous little flower. It hadn't been so bad the first time; he had been dead, after all, and suddenly finding himself with form, looking up at the astonished face of his father ... it seemed too good to be true.

Things had been good for awhile; he and his father spent a lot of time together, talking about how happy Mother would be when she found out, and how maybe Dad's new scientist could find a way to either restore his old body or build him a new one. Maybe things would be better ... or as better as they could be without Chara.

The loss of his soul was an insidious process that slowly left him unable to feel true happiness, unable to feel joy at the sight of his father or at the thought of reuniting with his mother. All too soon, he found it unbearable to even be around his father.

Then he found out about the reset. The determination in him had given him a power that he barely understood himself. His father entered the garden, saw him, and acted as though he'd just discovered his son's presence. At first, Asriel thought his father was joking, a poor attempt at humor that only made Flowey more angry. Then it happened again the next day ... and the next. Every time Flowey slept and wished that things were different, he'd wake up and find himself back at the garden, staring at his surprised father's face.

Mobility wasn't an issue; his soul was gone, but his magic was still partially intact, allowing him to travel through the dirt. His first thought was simple; if his father had failed to help, surely his mother would do better.

He knew the moment he saw her that it was no good. The sight of his mother should have filled him with ... with something. Joy, happiness, relief. There was nothing. Butterscotch cinnamon pie stuck in the throat he no longer had as she fussed over him until he finally reset. Once again in the royal garden, he decided to look for answers.

Alphys had been tight-lipped; it took several resets to figure out the best way to torture the information out of her, and even then, it was hardly satisfying; his soul was gone. Without it, he couldn't have a body, couldn't feel happiness or joy. No matter how hard he tried, he could never reset time back to his earlier form. He couldn't save Chara ... he couldn't even save himself. The determination that gave him the ability to reverse time also bound him to that pitiful form; he could never go back.

He tortured Alphys for so long that he lost count; he told himself he was being thorough, but the cruel wickedness of his actions was the closest thing he'd felt to emotion. Eventually he tortured all of them: his parents, Alphys and her fishy crush, those ridiculous skeletons. Sometimes it was direct, sometimes the torture took a more subtle form; either way, the thought of it made the vestiges of a smile form on his face.

His smile faded instantly. It was starting already; Alphys, sweet Alphys who was no doubt looking forward to a future on the surface with Undyne. How could her death bring him joy? How could the thought of killing any of them bring even a twisted form of happiness to him?

His form wavered in front of his eyes, his limbs gradually losing shape. he cried, for his mother and father, for Frisk, for Chara ... for anyone to help him, to stop it, even though he knew they would be long gone. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to focus his thoughts on the good feelings that still remained within him, even as they seemed to be slipping away ...

Only they weren't slipping away. He felt the warmth of emotion filling his chest, warding away the darkness that was closing in on him. Opening his eyes, he saw he was his normal self; his arms and hands as normal as they ever looked. The horrible sensation of his limbs melting away was gone.

There was one difference, however; on his chest, directly over his heart, there was a small shining white five-pointed star. It felt warm to the touch like ... like a soul.

He was still trying to figure out where it had come from when a deep voice said, "Behold the power of the Everstar."

Asriel looked up sharply to see a thin figure with a bowed back looking at him, its slightly warped skeletal face smiling eerily at him from beneath a heavy hood.

"W-who are you?" Asriel asked, a little frightened; he thought he'd seen every monster in the underground throughout all his resets, but he didn't recognize this skeleton at all.

"You were moments away from being lost." The figure said, his voice strangely disjointed, as though he was having to consider each word carefully. "Without a soul, monsters become naught but dust. Your determination saves you from that fate, only to give you another some would call worse ... but with a mere fragment of the Everstar, you are restored."

"The ... The Everstar?"

The figure nodded, eerie smile widening slightly. "The culmination of the hopes and dreams of our kind. Your desire to remain as you were must've been strong enough to call a piece of it to you."

Asriel slowly rose to his feet, and was relieved to find them strong and firm. "And it's in me now?"

The figure nodded. "It fills the absence of your heart ... your soul. It gives you form, and allows you to feel."

Hope blossomed in Asriel's chest, buoyed by the warmth of the star on his chest. "Then ... then I can leave the Underground? I can see mother and father again ... I can be with Frisk and Sans and all the others?"

Without waiting for a response, Asriel ran for the entrance to the ruins. Frisk had only been there a few minutes ago; if he hurried, maybe he could catch a ride with the river monster and catch them all before they left. As he passed the threshold, however, a great pain shot through his chest. He collapses instantly, one claw clutched to the star. To his horror, cracks began to spread through the shining white light.

Panic gripped his mind; he scrambled away from the door until he bumped into the legs of the strange skeleton, who put his hands on Asriel's shoulders. Asriel saw the cracks in his star slowly vanish, leaving the star once again complete.

"I am sorry child." The skeleton said. "Truth be told, I feared as much."

"I don't understand." Asriel said, saddness filling him. "Why I can't go?"

"The Everstar is bound to its brothers and sisters. It cannot exist far from them."

Asriel sighed, sadness once again filling him.

The skeleton patted Asriel's shoulder. "Do not lose hope, child. There may be a way."

"Really? How?"

"It is said one who collects all the pieces of the Everstar will be granted their dearest desire. If the return of your soul is what you wish, then you need but find them."

"But how can I find them?" Asriel asked. "I'm stuck here!"

"The shards of the Everstar do not rest within the Underground; they rests within the Deep."

"The Deep?"

The skeleton turned to the wall of the chamber and held out a hand with a large hole in the center of the palm. To Asriel's amazement, the bricks moved and rearranged themselves until they formed a large archway, beyond which lay a stone path floating in what appeared to be a starlit sky.

Floating crystal torches lined the path, providing an eerie light on the floating stones as it led straight into the star-filled void. Asriel remembered other such rooms within the underground, their ceilings lined with luminescent crystals, but none were nearly as massive; the chamber must have been bigger than the rest of the Underground put together. Asriel couldn't even see the outer walls. He couldn't even see the floor, for that matter.

"What is this?" Asriel asked, eyes wide.

"The Deep." The skeleton said, slowly walking through the archway. "A place between dreams and reality. The pieces of the Everstar are there. Find them, and your soul yet be restored ... but be warned. Other forces seek the Everstar for their own ends. They will not hesitate on taking your shard. Do not let them."

Asriel clasped a hand to his chest as the skeleton continued, "I would help you in your quest, Prince Asriel. Should you need my assistance, please visit me in my lab. Until then, I wish you luck."

Asriel stared after him for a few moments before turning to the entrance to the ruins. It was heartbreaking to think of being so close, yet so far to everything he wanted. For the first time, he wished he had asked Frisk to tell his parents; even with Flowey's memories of manipulation, he found himself wishing he could talk to them.

But Frisk was gone. Her friends, his parents, they'd soon reach the surface and begin their brand new life. Asriel couldn't follow, not as he was. Looking down at the star on his chest, he felt strangely conscious of its warmth spreading through him. Even as he felt it, he could feel something else, something beyond the gateway that seemed to resonate ever so slightly with the star.

There was, ultimately, only one choice.

He turned to the doorway, only to find the skeletal figure gone.

"Hey!" Asriel called out, "Mister! Mister, are you still there?"

Getting no answer, he hurried out of the chamber, stopping only a moment for a final look at the small patch of yellow flowers.

The stone walkway hung over a dark abyss, broken only by the pinpricks of distant light. Again, Asriel was struck by just how big the cavern holding the Deep must be. The road certainly seemed to have no end; it simply continued on and on. Oddly enough, there was no sign of the skeleton man ahead ... no sign of anything, really: just the stones of the long winding path.

The path was lined here and there with remnants of stone handrails. Some were still attached, others floated in the air. It seemed strange to Asriel; he was used to seeing magic, but magic implied a caster; the entire path was just floating in nothingness.

Occasionally, the path would branch out, usually all but one ending in dead ends. It was usually pretty obvious, but with the way the path twisted, sometimes he found himself at an impasse and had to backtrack. Sometimes the path stopped altogether, breaking off entirely from the rest and requiring Asriel to hop over the gap. Sometimes the path was fragmented all over the place, making progress a high-stakes game of hopscotch.

It was after one of these areas that Asriel realized he was being followed. Turning back, he spotted a dark figure, only slightly less dark than the rest of the chamber. It stared at him, its eyes two bright points of light. It would've seemed much more threatening if it hadn't looked shorter than Asriel.

"Hello?" Asriel called out. "Can you hear me?"

The figure cocked its head to the side before vanishing from sight. Asriel wasn't sure what to make of that. Shaking his head, he continued walking alone. He rubbed his elbow, uneasiness slowly spreading through him.

His star shone brightly, sometimes providing better light than the blue crystal torches that floated alongside the road. It was reassuring at first, but as time passed, Asriel felt very exposed on the lonely road, and kept his shirt covering it. He caught sight of the strange figure behind him a few more times; it became a slight obsession, and soon he spent more time looking back than looking forward. The figure never grew any closer, though it didn't seem malevolent; if anything, it seemed merely curious.

Unfortunately, Asriel was so focused on catching a glimpse of his mysterious companion that he didn't see the golem until he ran into him. Made of the same gray stone as the rest of the path, it was outfitted with a pair of massive denim overalls and wore a tool belt that appeared to contain nothing but cooking appliances and a single massive mallet.

"Gah!" The massive stone golem roared in surprise. It turned around and looked over Asriel's head for a few moments before scratching its head.

"Huh. Dat's strange." The golem muttered, scratching it's smooth stone head with a massive rock hand. "I coulda sworn somethin' jus' hit me."

"S-sorry, mister!" Asriel said, rising to his feet.

"Who said dat?" The golem said, a definite tremor of fear in his voice.

"I-I'm down here." Asriel said.

The golem looked down, a curious look on its face. "Oh! Dat's a relief. Thought maybe one of those whuzzits was tryin' to pull somethin'. Who are you, anyway, kid?"

"Asriel." Asriel said, hesitantly offering his hand. "Asriel Dremurr."

The golem carefully shook his hand, leaving Asriel's arm only slightly sore. "Skyway worker DM-173, but you don't hafta call me dat. Just call me what everyone else calls me: Golemite."

The golem's friendly demeanor made Asriel feel more at ease. Smiling, Asriel said "N-nice to meet you, Golemite."

"Likewise." Shaking his massive head, the golem said, "So whatchoo doin' walkin' round here witout looking where ya goin? Good way to fall of da path, an' let me tell ya kid, it's a long drop."

"I was following someone." Asriel said, "But I lost him. He was a skeleton, I think."

"Skeleton? Don't know any skeletons, kid. Ghosts, sure; zombies, okay; I even met da elusive Yak-face once, but I don't know no skeletons. Sorry, kid."

"It's okay." Asriel said. "I'll keep going. I mean, if the road doesn't branch, it's not like I've got another choice."

"Whatchu mean the road doesn't branch?" The golem said. "It branches all over the place."

"Oh. Well, maybe they were broken-"

The golem's stones ground together slightly. "Hey, Dis road's in perfect shape. Every single branch works perfectly ... except exit thirteen, and I'm on my way dere now."

"I'm sorry.' Asriel said, "But I passed a bunch of broken roads on my way here."

The golem's eyes were red. "You sayin' I ain't workin'? Jus' who do you tink you are, kid?"

"I'm sorry!" Asriel said, raising his hands in supplication. "I just ..."

The golem picked up Asriel as though he weighed nothing and set the young Dremurr on his shoulder. Without another word, he ran down the path Asriel had previously taken. The road seemed to shake under every massive footstep, and Asriel spotted stones breaking away more than once. Asriel looked for the dark figure, but it was hard to see much of anything while bouncing up and down on the Golem's shoulder.

Golemite carried him all the way back to the last break in the path. As before, it just seemed to stop, as though the path had been broken off by some massive hand.

Setting Asriel down, the golem said, "Okay, so what's wrong wit my road?"

"It ... it's broken." Asriel said, wondering how the golem could miss the obvious problem.

"Whatchu talkin' 'bout? Road works fine! Look!"

Asriel's stomach lurched into his throat as the golem shoved Asriel toward the empty expanse. Asriel tried in vain to stop himself from going over the edge, but as his foot came down on the air, it hit something.

Looking down, Asriel realised there was a stone beneath his foot that definitely hadn't been there before. It wasn't even attached to the rest of the road. After a few moments, more stones came up around it, creating a wider space.

Asriel looked back at Golemite, who gave him a thumbs up. Taking a deep breath, Asriel took another step; once again a stone rose to meet his foot. After a few more steps, thousands of stones flew from all directions and formed along road that veered away from the road he'd previously taken.

"See?" Golemite said as Asriel stared at the path in wonder. "It's workin' jus' fine!"

"I'm sorry." Asriel said, "I didn't know."

His heart sank. He'd passed dozens of branches already, any one of which the skeletal figure could've taken without him knowing.

"Hey, kid." Golemite said, crouching down to look Asriel in the eye. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get ya down. I mean, clearly you ain't from the Deep."

"It's not that." Asriel said. "It's just ... I have no idea where I'm going. I was trying to follow the skeleton man, but how am I supposed to find him? I just ... I wish I could go home."

"Well, what's stopping you?"

Asriel looked down at his star, hidden under his shirt. He considered telling Dolemite, but ended up sniffling instead. He rubbed his eyes angrily, trying to force the tears back.

"Hey, little guy." Golemite said, his tone softening. "It ain't dat bad. I mean, I got lost up here once too; that's how I got my job on the skyway crew. Now der's nowhere else I'd rather be!"

Asriel didn't know what to say to that. Dolemite didn't wait for a response however; he picked up Asriel and plopped the young boss monster on his shoulder. "You just hold on; I'll get you to To Mayor Mayor, and I bet ya he'll be able to help ya find yer skeleton friend."

"Mayor Mayor?'"

"Yeah, but most people just call him Mayor. Nice guy, for a sprite. Most respected Don'tchu worry; we'll be dere before ya know it."


	6. Chapter 5 - Point of No Return

**Chapter 5**

 **Point of No Return**

Glen stared up at the moon of Everblue, her mind in a daze. She lay on the shore of Yuna Lake, a small body of freshwater not far from the idestan capital, Muonsol. Her head was pillowed by her clothes ... her clothes, and those of the tigreth woman currently resting against her side.

An arm covered with soft auburn fur snaked across Glen's bare chest, pulling her closer until Glen's lips met that of the woman she'd married just a day ago.

"Teria." Glen said, rubbing her cheek. "You're awake."

"Mmmhmm." Teria said, her lips still tantalizingly close. "I thought you were gonna wake me up before the suns set."

"I couldn't bring myself to wake you." Glen said, hugging her wife close. They kissed again, longer this time.

When they finally released, Teria settled beside her, her eyes following Glenda's starbound gaze.

"You okay?" Teria asked, rubbing Glen's cheek with the back of her hand.

Glen nodded. "Yeah. Just thinkin', that's all."

"Oh? About us?"

"Kinda." Glen said. "Just wondering. After everything that's happened, I just can't help but wonder how things might have been different."

"Second thoughts?"

"Never." Glen said before giving Teria another passionate kiss. "I was just thinking; what if things had played out differently?"

"You mean what if you'd stayed in Longshore." Teria said, nodding. "Yeah, I wondered that a lot over the past year."

After a few moments of silence, Glen looked over at her wife. "And?"

"And we would've been married a year ago instead of yesterday." Teria let out a light-hearted laugh. "I wasn't the one who had a problem with us; my parents would have just had to deal with it."

They stared up at the sky as they lay beside the lake in each other's arms.

"But what if I was different?" Glen asked.

"What, like if you were a guy?"

"No ... well, maybe. What if I was a different person? What if I was a vuestan or a rimstakken?"

"Then I'd be taller as well as stronger than you." Teria said with a grin.

"Very funny. I'm serious; what I was a different person, or what if things just didn't happen the same way; if you'd never found that ring and necklace, or if we never participated in the Glyche Circuit, or ..."

Teria interrupted her with another kiss. "You think too much. We're together now, and I can't imagine it every being different. Now if you're finished waxing philosophical, your wife would very much like your full attention. Close your eyes."

Glen closed her eyes. She pursed her lips in anticipation for another kiss, and was therefore taken by surprise by a loud and happy bark.

Her eyes flew open. She was lying on the stone floor of the corridor to the Underground, Jake standing over her body with his tail end wagging.

"Get off!" Glen said, shoving Jake back so she could sit up. Jake didn't budge; Headache's strength augmentation was offline. Jake nevertheless backed away so that the Dreamer could sit up.

It wasn't just Headache; her Tek-boots were dead as well. Glen undid the clasps of her right boot with some difficulty (the mechanical hands were as inert as the rest of her gear) and tugged it loose to get a better look; from what she could tell, the power cells were completely dead.

"Well, great." Glen said, looking at her Headache-clad arms.

Without power, they were essentially massive weights ... weights she couldn't even remove. Headache was her prototype; it had many innovative features, some not even implemented in the Universal Builder Tool uprades her company would one day produce, but she'd never got around to installing the standard safety releases.

Without access to fresh power cells, she'd have to rely on the stream converters. They'd gradually recharge the cells with the natural flow of magic in the environment. That would take hours; until then, Glen would just have to deal with it.

Glen turned to head back to Ebott, only to run headfirst into something she couldn't see. She fell back to the ground with a loud 'oof'. The air in front of her shimmered like the surface of a moonlit lake disturbed by a thrown stone.

As the magic barrier settled, a stunned Glen rose and slowly extended her immobile hand forward. Her hand encountered resistance, slight at first but growing rapidly stronger the further her arm extended before finally stopping her altogether. Trying to move her arm faster made the effect nearly isntantaneous.

Frowning, Glen said, "Sans? Is this you?" When there was no response, he continued, "Toriel? Undyne? Papyrus? Al ... oh! Of course!"

Glen raised her bracelet to her mouth and said, "Alphys! Alphys, can you read me?"

There was no response. Frowning, Glen looked at the bracelet and found it too was dead. It had a solar strip for recharging, which wasn't much use underground.

Glen looked past the barrier; she could just barely see the sunlight coming through the entrance to the Underground. There was no sign of any of the others, which bothered Glen a little. No one bothered to check on her once she didn't come back out?

A horrifying thought occurred to her. Had whatever she'd been running from gotten out and hurt them? It had been going quite fast; perhaps it just kept going. The entrance was on the side of a mountain; perhaps it simply shot over the cliff and either flew away or fell over the railing at the edge of the park. Maybe it just left; it hadn't harmed her or Jake after all, and it certainly had every opportunity to. While there was no way to be sure, Glen did find this thought reassuring.

Sighing, she said, "C'mon, Jake; we'd better get moving."

Jake let out a whine.

"Not much we can do until we figure out what's up with the barrier." Glen said. "Until then, we might as well continue our investigation. C'mon."

With a final glance at the light of the surface, Glen headed for the doorway leading out of the passage. She paused just before passing through, her brow furrowing. There had been a door there earlier; she remembered it being send flying over her head. A second glance at the barrier found no door lying on the floor or against the wall. Even more puzzling, the doorway itself seemed perfectly intact.

"Huh." Glen said, eyeing the stonework for any remaining hinges or screws and ultimately finding nothing. "That's ... odd."

Jake gave an impatient bark. Shaking her head, Glen tucked the mystery of the door in the back of her mind and said, "Right. Moving on."

Glen never visited the Underground before, not even Dremurr Castle, which lay closest to the surface. She always meant to, but never seemed to have the time. Now that she was there, however, she gazed around in amazement at the elegance of the place. She'd thought an underground city would feel cramped and stifling, but the corridors of the castle were wide and airy, with little to none of the musty cave smell Glen always imagined.

After wandering the corridors for a time, she soon found her way to a wide pair of doors. Sniffing, Glen glanced at Jake and said, "Air smells a bit sweeter here. You gettin' this?"

Jake's face sniffed a few times before he let out a bark. For all his doglike mannerisms, Glen was reminded that he was technically a robot. Still, she gave him a kind pat on the monitor before pushing open the doors to reveal a large courtyard filled with the same yellow flowers that filled the parks and gardens around Ebott. A throne sat in one of the few patches of tile that had not been reclaimed by the flowers, another throne lying in the back of the room beneath a thick sheet. The only other door lay on the opposite wall, currently closed.

Momentarily taken aback, Glen soon found her voice to say, "Whoa. Didn't expect this." Jake barked happily in reply before leaping into the midst of the flowers and rolling around like his biological counterparts.

The yellow flowers were everywhere, their scent almost intoxicating. Glen shielded her eyes as she stepped forward into a warmth and light that momentarily made her think she was outside. A large window beside the doors she'd just opened radiated a gentle sunlight that seemed to spread across the entire room.

Her wrist beeped. Glen looked down and was pleasantly surprised to see Alphys's wristwatch was working again.

"Thank the Creator for magical sunlight." Glen said before raising the band to her mouth. "Alphys, can you hear me?"

After a few moments of silence, Glen heard Alphys's voice reply, "W-who is this?"

"It's Glen; I'm okay. I'm in some kind of courtyard right now ... or maybe a throne room. Is everyone else okay?"

The silence that answered her was almost deafening.

"Alphys, I need to know." Glen said, preparing herself as best as she could for the worst. "I'd check myself, but some kind of barrier's keeping me in here."

"Y-you need to get to Hotland right now!" Alphys said, panick in her voice. "I don't know how you got this frequency, but if you're not in my Lab, then you're in danger!"

"Danger?" Glen asked, brow furrowed. "From what? There's just a bunch of flowers here."

"Oh my god." Alphys whimpered. "Y-you're in Castle Dremurr? The human's headed right for you! Please, just try to avoid them and get here as soon as you can!"

"The human? What human? Alphys, what the hell is-"

Something hit the side of Headache with the force of a bullet, knocking Glen off-balance. She looked around for the source, but all she saw were flowers.

Another shot hit her armored shoulder, knocking her back. Frustrated, she shouted, "Now cut that out! Who'd doing that?"

She stared around the room until her eyes caught movement moments before something small and white shot toward her. She leapt out of the way and took aim with Headache, forgetting for the moment that it was dead. Staring out over the top of Headache, she found herself looking into the black eyes of a particularly large flower.

It took her a few seconds to fully comprehend this, and even then, something about it nagged at the edges of her thoughts. "Talking vegetables, I get. Dummies that move around on their own, I understand; I even accept semi-sentient gelatin molds. Talking flowers are a first ... unless you count dryads. Or mandrakes ... oh, and the um ... the girls who grow in the center of roses? The uh ... Alarainy? Alraune? I can never remember."

"You ... you aren't Chara." The flower said, sounding (and oddly enough, looking) surprised. "W-who are you?"

"Call me Glen. Shoot at me again, and I'll call you compost."

"But I've never seen you before!"

"Likewise."

"You don't understand! I've seen everyone Underground more times than I can remember! Where did you come from?"

"Mum always said the stork brought me. Dad had ... different theories." Glen's eyes widened as she realized what was bothering her. "Wait a second ... you're Asriel, right? I came here to look for you!"

With a yelp, the flower disappeared into the dirt. Jake barked and dove at the spot.

Sighing, Glen said as Jake pawed and sniffed at the ground. "Okay, maybe I coulda worded that differently."

"Hello?" Said a deep voice. "Is someone here?"

Glancing in the direction of the voice, Glen said, "Uh, yeah. In here!"

The large door at the opposite end of the hall opened to reveal a massive figure in a fancy robe. Glen recognized him instantly; if the horns weren't enough of a giveaway, the steaming cup of tea he carried was.

"Asgore?" Glen said with a grin, greeting her old friend with a hug. "I'll be damned. Good ta see ya again!"

Asgore quickly pulled away, a confused look on his face. "Who are you?"

Glen blinked. "Glen. Glenda Adams. Your former landlady. Maker's breath, Asgore, it hasn't been that long.

"I-I beg your pardon? This is my castle, madam." Asgore gave Jake an odd look. "And er, robot dog.

"I thought you took my advice and headed off to Vinta with that sweet tauren teacher I introduced to ya. Kinda thought you two'd be married by now; she certainly seemed keen enough on you."

Asgore's cheeks went red beneath his white fur, prompting Glen to chuckle and slap him on the arm. "Hey, I ain't trying to pressure you or nothin'; just surprised to see a friendly face. Did you know there's some kind of barrier blocking us in here?"

Asgore raised a blonde eyebrow at Glen, a strangely calculating look in his eye. "You don't say."

"Yeah. Damndest thing. I leading a group down here."

"A group?"

"Yeah. Sans and Papyrus, Undyne, Frisk, and Toriel."

Asgore stared at Glen wordlessly for a few moments before he finally said, "Toriel was with you? Up there? Beyond the barrier?"

"Yeah. She's probably still up there ... at least, I hope so." A few strands of hair fell over her eyes as she shook her head. She tried to brush them out of her vision, and was again reminded that her hands were currently stuck in Headache.

She caught Asgore looking at her strangely. It was the kind of look of someone who was doing a lot of thinking; she realized she shouldn't have been surprised; Asgore was Toriel's ex-husband, after all. Of course he'd have complicated feeling about her.

"Ugh." She said, looking down at her useless arms. "This is getting really annoying. Stupid power cells gave out, now I can't even take the damn things off."

"Oh ... I'm sorry." Asgore said, giving a confused but genuine smile. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Nah, that's all ..." Glen stopped, an idea in her mind. "Actually, yeah, maybe there is."

She took a few steps away before facing Asgore, Headache blocking her face and chest. "Hit me with some fire magic."

"What?" Asgore said, clearly alarmed.

"Seriously; just hit me with a small fireball or somethin'."

Asgore still seemed reluctant, so Glen said, "The stream converters turn magic into energy for the power cells; it's a big crude, but a direct hit from a spell should give me enough power to get these off, so if you please."

"Oh. Uh, well, if you're sure." Asgore raised a hand and appeared to concentrate. In a matter of moments, a small orb of fire appeared in his outstretched hand and shot toward Glen. The force of the shot knocked Glen back a bit, but she escaped the burst of flames with little more than singed eyebrows and two powered (and very hot) UBTs.

Not sure how long the power would last, Glen quickly reactivated Headache's release switches. The units released their grip on her arms, allowing her to unhook them from her impulse harness and remove them. She sighed with relief, rubbing her slightly red arms.

"That's much better." She said before removing her harness and boots as well.

"Is everything okay?" Asgore asked, eyeing Glen's gear curiously. "I hope I didn't damage your equipment."

"Nah." Glen said, waving him off. "If they survived me up to this point, a little magic won't hurt them."

She gingerly checked Headache's display. "Huh. Didn't get quite as much power as I hoped. Listen, Asgore, you mind if I just leave this stuff here for now? It's basically just a bunch of dead weight without power."

"I could hit them with another spell." Asgore suggested. "Or a more powerful one, if you'd like."

"Nah, better not; it's not really what the converters are supposed to be used for. I'll just let 'em charge and pick 'em up later if I really need them.

"Certainly Miss Glen." He said. as she pulled off her visor and tossed it onto the pile of her gear. "So, um ... what brings you here, Miss Glen?"

"Looking for a talking flower."

"Really?" Asgore said, raising an eyebrow. "Golly, that sounds interesting."

Glen chuckled. "That's a word for it. Listen, could you tell me where Alphys's lab is? I was talkin' with her a moment ago, and it sounded like she was in some kind of trouble."

"Alphys is in trouble?" Asgore said, a worried look on his face. "Did she say what kind?"

"She said something about some human heading this way. Sounded terrified, to be honest. Still, you're here with a cup of tea; can't imagine anything too bad is going on." Shaking her head, Glen said, "I do want to go check on her though, just in case."

"Yes, of course." Asgore gestured to the door. "Take the right path just past the door, head down the corridor past the chapel and hit the main road through New Home until you reach Hotland ... you'll know it when you see it. Alphys's lab is right near the entrance."

"Thanks." Glen said, shaking Asgore's hand. "And uh, I'll keep an eye out for any crazy humans. Well, any other crazy humans. C'mon, Jake."

Asgore chuckled as Glen and Jake headed for the door. "You are a strange woman, Miss Glen."

When Glen laughed, Asgore asked, "What's so funny?"

"Last time you told me that, I'd just poked my head up through the middle of your flower bed. Thought for sure you were going to whack me with your hoe, but you just laughed and called me strange. Odd way for a landlady to meet her tenant, but there you go." Shaking her head, she said, "Take care of yourself, Asgore."

"And you as well, Miss Glen." Asgore said, giving her a bow of his head as she and Jake departed.


	7. Chapter 6 - Misjudgement

**Chapter 6**

 **Misjudgement**

Glenda jogged through the main corridor of Dremurr Castle, Jake following close at her heels until she came to a halt near a crossing of hallways. Jake started whining the moment they stopped, constantly looking from Glen to passage behind them.

"What's wrong, boy?" Glen said, rubbing his top sensor. "You sensing something?"

He let out a plaintive bark, looking at the passage again.

"I don't get it. Is it Asgore? You're bothered by Asgore?" When the KEI-9 unit nodded, Glen sighed and said, "Well, don't be; the guy's a big fuzzy pushover. He wouldn't hurt a fly."

Jake barked again, this time nudging Glen's arm.

"What, Headache? Phhb. It's fine; I'm tellin' ya, Asgore's a good guy. Hell, he's one of the few people I've authorized to use my gear. That's how much I trust him. Mind you, that's the first time I've seen him running around in his Lord of the Underground outfit." Glen paused a moment considering the mental image. "Not sure what that's about. Or why he's here, for that matter. Or why there's a barrier and Alphys is freaking out about some human. This whole situation's strange."

Jake rose suddenly to his hind legs and started barking at something behind Glen. She turned to see the small figure of a child staring back at him. Appearance wise, she looked a good bit like Frisk, only with fairer skin. Her eyes with blood red, though Glen knew it wasn't from illness or injury; Glen saw red eyes occasionally among the human children of Ebott. Glen found it a little disquieting, even more so when she learned that citizens of Ebott hundreds of years in the past would kill such children for being 'demon-spawn'.

"Hey there." Glen said, smiling as she crouched down and held out a hand. "Are you stuck down here too? Did you get separated from your parents?"

"Help him."

Glen blinked. Though her face was pleading, the little girl's lips hadn't moved. "I'm sorry?"

"Help him, Glenda. Please."

Glen's brow furrowed, but before she could ask the little girl how she knew Glenda's name, a loud crash resonated through the passage ahead. Glen glanced in the direction of the sound for only a moment, but when she turned back to look at the little girl, she was gone.

Another crash rang through the corridor, this one accompanied by the sound of crumbling stone and a slight layer of dust that fell from the ceiling.

"Never a dull moment." Glen muttered. "Come on, Jake!"

They continued running down the corridor to another set of embossed door bearing the same symbols as Asgore's kingly attire. The effect was undercut somewhat by one of the doors hanging off its hinges, revealing the chapel beyond.

It was a grand affair, more like a cathedral than a chapel in Glen's opinion, lined on one side with massive windows, tall and stately ivory pillars, and clean tiles that made every footstep echo across the chapel. The sunlight enchantment of the windows gave the impression of sunset, lending the area a somber mood even with several of the pillars now lying flat across the floor with dozens of bones protruding from the sides.

Glenda slipped through the doors, but before she could turn to get Jake, she spotted him in the rear of the chappel, partially obscured by a pillar: Blue coat with a fur-lined hood, black track shorts, and the ever-tasteless combo of socks and slipper coupled with an ever present smile; Glen would always remember the first monster she ever met.

Smiling, she said, "Sans! I shoulda known you'd find a way past that barrier!"

Sans looked her way, his ever-present smile twisted in an unmistakable frown and his left eye blazing blue. Glen stopped in her tracks, surprised and disturbed to see her friend looking so unfriendly.

She started towards him, concerned. "What's wrong, Sa-"

He waved his hand sharply in Glen's direction, a dozen or more bones materializing in front of him before flying toward Glen at a frightening speed. Glen dove aside moments before the first of the bones shot through the air she'd just occupied. The rest trailed behind her as she scrambled to cover.

"Oy!" She shouted, not quite ready to peek around the side of the pillar. "What's the big idea, bone-brain? You nearly got me!"

There was no reply, though Glen did hear the sounds of struggling. She cautiously peered around the pillar just enough to make out Sans leaping backwards as though dodging something. The something swung into view a moment later: the shiny blade of a knife.

Sans was quick, but even he couldn't dodge forever. Sure enough, after a few swings, Sans backed right into the wall. There was no shock, no anger, not even any fear; if anything, San's face seemed almost accepting of his fate.

Glen reacted without thinking, thrusting her rune hand forward and sending a glowing stream of dream energy shooting through the air to wrap around the blade of the knife. With a hard tug, she yanked the weapon from the hands of Sans's assailant. Glen started forward as the knife embedded itself in the wall behind her. She quickly closed the distance, catching the figure before it could fully rise and slamming it against the wall.

"All right, just what the hell-" Glen stopped, squinting at the figure in disbelief. "Frisk?"

The child Glen was currently holding against the wall by her small shoulders indeed looked like Frisk, with one key difference; she had no wings.

Glen looked to Sans, thoroughly confused. "Sans, what the hell's going on here?"

She suddenly gasped as a sharp pain flashed across her arm. Frisk had another knife; it looked like a toy, but still had enough of an edge to break her skin with the force the kid put behind it. Glen dropped Frisk, who quickly scurried behind a pillar.

"What the hell, Frisk?" Glen said, looking at the bleeding gash on her arm. It was already healing itself, but that didn't stop it from hurting. Once it was just a red welt, she started toward Frisk, only to find her already on the other side of the room

She started to close the distance only to jerk back as a bone embedded itself in the pillar she was passing.

"Don't move!" Sans said, one hand pointed at the pillar where Frisk hid and the other straight at Glen. Glen quickly raised her hands on impulse as Sans's gaze shifted rapidly between the two humans, as though unwilling to ignore either for too long.

"I know I'm a bit of a numb-skull," Sans said, his gaze lingering on Glen for a moment, "But I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I'd laid my eye-sockets on you before. Who are you?

Glen stared at him for a moment, shocked. "Sans, it's me: Glenda. Glenda Adams. Your old landlady." Glancing at Frisk's pillar, Glen said, "Is this some kind of joke? Are you and Frisk pulling a prank on me?"

"Frisk?" Sans repeated, one of his eye-ridges rising.

"Yes, Frisk; the kid. Your kid. You and Toriel adopted her. What, you throwing your voice or something? Trying to confuse the heck outta me? If so, congrats; I'm thoroughly confused."

"Me and Toriel? Who's Toriel?"

Now Glen really was shocked. "Toriel, your wife! Jesus, Sans, what the hell's the matter with you?"

Sans's eye-sockets went wide. "My wife? So I'm married now?"

"No, you were married on September the fifteenth. I remember because Toriel wanted the wedding when the flowers were still blooming and the trees were changing color."

Sans stared at Glen for a few moments before abruptly sending another bone flying dead center in the pillar where Frisk was hiding. Her blue and purple-striped shirt was faintly visible as she ducked behind the next pillar.

"Whoa, easy there, Tex!" Glen said, taking a step forward only to put her hands up as a bone materialized inches from her face.

"Have you been helping her?" Sans asked, his tone accusing.

"Yes, Sans." Glen said, "We all came here to help her find Asriel. You me, Papyrus, Undyne ..."

The look Sans gave her made the truth of the situation finally click in Glen's head. The barrier, Alphys's panicked communication, Asgore's presence in the Underground when Glen was sure the bosson was on Vinta, and now the one monster who knew Glen better than anyone didn't remember her, Frisk, or Toriel: these all painted an image that was all too clear.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" Glen said, unable to keep the astonishment out of her voice. " You ... you really don't know who I am. This isn't a prank; something's very wrong here."

Sans swung a hand high in the air. A giant skull that looked somewhat reptilian to Glen's eyes materialized in mid-air, energy streaming into its mouth. Glen had only seen Sans's Gaster Blaster once before, and the resulting blast ended up taking out an entire Reaper. Nevertheless, Glen held her ground as Sans fixed his gaze on her.

"I'm tryin' to be patient here," Sans said with a forced chuckle. "But I've had a pretty lousy day. You're acting like we're pals, and I wanna believe that, I really do. Lately, though, I guess I haven't been too good a judge of character and ... and my brother's one of of 'em who paid the price."

Glen's mouth fell open before she caught herself. "Papyrus is dead?"

After a few moments of silence, Sans pulled a familiar red scarf from within his jacket.

Glen closed her eyes; the thought of the cheery spaghetti-loving skeleton having been killed filled her with a deep sadness, even if she had the feeling that it wasn't the same Papyrus who proudly marched around Ebott.

""Whether or not you know me, Sans, I do know you. I know I've never been able to lie to you." Glen lowered her arms and looked Sans in his eye-sockets. "I'm not your enemy. If anything, I consider you to be one of my best friends ... even if you are a bit of a numb-skull. I don't know what's going on here, but Papyrus was my friend too. I wanna help if I can."

Sans stared at her for a long moment before slowly lowering his hand, the skull closing its mouth. Before Glen could respond, however, Sans's eyes focused on something behind Glen, his sockets widening.

"Look out!" He said, raising his hand again, the massive skull letting out a blast of energy that sheared right through one of the pillars. Glen flung herself out of the way reflexively before she realized that Sans had not been aiming for her, but for Frisk, who had snuck across the rows of pillars and had been moments away from stabbing Glen in the back.

The little girl dodged the blast with surprising skill before rushing at Glen. There was no time to stand; Frisk was on top of Glen in seconds, gripping her knife with both hands and stabbing at Glen's chest.

Glen caught the little girl's wrists. The two wrestled with the blade for a few moments before Glen managed to tear it from her grasp and slammed it into the floor, shattering the toy knife into harmless plastic shards. To Glen's surprise, however, Frisk wrapped her small hands around Glen's throat and choked her with surprising strength for a child.

"You ruined everything!" Frisk said, her voice filled with frustration.

Glen couldn't respond; not only was her windpipe being effectively cut off, she was in shock to hear Frisk actually speak. She'd known the kid for years, and as far as she knew, Frisk was completely mute. Glen tried to pry the little girl's hands free, but Frisk had an amazingly strong grip. Even more alarming was the fact that her Dreamer abilities didn't seem to be working; reality around Frisk seemed unusually fixed.

Then her face changed; Frisk's face shifted into a horrifying mask with wide sunken pits where her eyes should be and a sinister and unnatural smile. A strange black liquid seemed to be trailing from her eyes and mouth, the black liquid burning where it touched Glenda's skin.

That was when Glenda felt it: the same dark sensation she'd felt when her friend Xyn was possessed back on the Suncruncher. It wasn't nearly as strong now as it was when she first noticed the neukaraan woman acting strangely, but the sense of repressed anger and malevolence was unmistakable.

Just as spots swam in front of Glen's eyes, the Dreamer heard the crash of wood, followed by a loud bark. A blast of electricity caught Frisk in the shoulder, knocking her clear off of Glen as the robot dog rushed to help her. Frisk looked daggers at the two of them before rushing toward the nearest pillar. Another flurry of bones flew her way, but she nimbly dodged it, taking cover behind the pillar as Glen had done moments before.

Sans approached, his hand held out warily at the remaining pillars as Glen coughed and struggled to rise.

"That's not Frisk." Glen said, her voice hoarse. "Her face ..."

"Yeah, I saw it." For the first time since their encounter, Sans gave Glen a slight smile. "Spine-tingling, wasn't it?"

Glen stared at him for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Somethin' like that."

She staggered to her feet and used the tail of her shirt to wipe the remaining black gunk off her skin. The sound of rapidly retreating footfalls made her look up; Frisk was making a run for the door at the far side of the chapel.

Glen shot another thread of dream energy at Frisk, Sans following it up with a barrage of bones. The thread seemed to veer away at the last second as though deflected. The bones didn't seem to encounter the same problem, but Frisk avoided them with a nimbleness Glen couldn't help but envy. In a matter of moments, she was through the door at the far side of the chapel. She wasn't alone, however; Jake was out the door only seconds later, barking like mad.

"Jake! Son of a ..." Still swearing beneath her breath, Glen ran after the child and the robot dog, leaving Sans behind her.

She stopped at the door and looked back at Sans. He looked so sad, standing there in the middle of the chapel with Papyrus's scarf in his hand.

"Hey, bone-brain!" Glen called out with a smile. "You comin'?"

He stared at her for a few moments before the grin she was so familiar with appeared on his face. "Right behind ya, landlady."


	8. Chapter 7 - The Thrill of the Chase

**Chapter 7**

 **The Thrill of the Chase**

The sound of running footsteps echoed through the streets: the pitter-patter of a child's feet followed by the clanking metal feet of a KEI-9 Unit, and rhythmic slapping of an adult's bare feet against cobblestone. Glen winced, wishing she'd worn socks; with the padding of the tek-boots, she rarely bothered.

Still, she ran as fast as she could manage after Jake and Frisk ... or whatever the little girl had become. In truth, Frisk was her secondary concern at the moment; if Jake were lost or injured, Finn Cresste would undoubtedly be upset. The poor fellow was likely still reeling from the loss of his 'brother' after all, and Glen had the feeling that her promise to try and bring him back was one of the few things that kept the biggest thorn in the Illusive Man's immaterial side from losing it completely.

As the chase continued through the streets and alleys of the city, however, something started nagging at Glen. She pushed it out of her mind at first, but eventually it hit her; the city was deserted. There were great buildings carved from stone, easily capable of holding hundreds, maybe even thousands of monsters, yet no one came out running at Glen's shouts or Jake's barks. No one poked their head out of a window to watch the chase. The realization very nearly made her stop running; the city of New Home was apparently completely deserted.

She kept one eye on Jake as she tried to be more aware of her surroundings. Alphys's warning rang in her head; "The human's headed right for you!" She sounded terrified. The idea seemed unthinkable at the time, but after Glen's recent encounter with Frisk, she couldn't help but wonder: was Alphys talking about Frisk? Sans said she'd killed Papyrus among others ... just how many others?

Glen was so focused on her thoughts that she didn't notice Jake come to a halt in the middle of a crossroad. She ran right into him, falling on his back.

"Whoa!" Glen said, her hands quickly clamping around the KEI-9's mid-section. Peering over Jake's side, she asked, "What's wrong, boy?"

Jake whined, his monitor turning to each of the roads in turn. Glen looked as well; there was no sign of Frisk. She reached for her Impulse visor; it could detect local disturbances in the lifestream. Normally it'd be useless in a city, with every passersby giving off a different trail, but with New Home essentially abandoned, there was only Frisk to detect.

"A shame I left it with my other gear." Glen sighed and rested her head on top of Jake's monitor. "Great. Perfect. Now what?"

Jake let out a whimper. Glen rubbed the top of his monitor. "Sorry, boy; I wasn't blaming you. Something about this Frisk is definitely off. I ain't saying my powers are all that reliable, but did you see how she managed to deflect them? That's never happened before."

"Aroo?"

"No, never." Glen glanced at her rune. It was still faintly glowing. Hopping off Jake, she tried moving to every passage to see if maybe the reality distorting effect Frisk displayed would trigger the rune. It did not; if there was a change, Glen didn't notice it.

She did see something else, though; a flash of yellow out of the edge of her vision. Whatever it was vanished the moment she turned to look at it directly. The only thing that stopped her from writing it off as her imagination was the broken earth that lay where she'd seen the yellow. She examined it, but found nothing but dirt.

"This place just gets weirder and weirder." Glen glanced at Jake. "A shame you're not a real dog; you could just sniff her out."

Jake's monitor tilted for a moment before the dog robot let out a happy bark. The cartoon dog face vanished from his monitor, only to be replaced with an up-close image of a dog's nose.

"Jake ... just stop." Glen said, rubbing her forehead. "I appreciate the effort, but KEI-9 units don't have olfactory-"

Jake stood up straight and let out an excited bark before running down one of the roads.

Glen paused only a moment before following, if for no other reason than she had no better choice.

Once again they raced through the empty streets, Jake pausing every now and then presumably to catch Frisk's scent. They eventually reached the main road again, continuing on away from the now-distant Castle Dreemurr. Their path eventually led them to a single elevator.

Jake gave the elevator a sniff before letting out a bark and hopping inside. Glen followed moments later.

It was about that time she realized something else; Sans wasn't behind her. Glen tried to remember the last time she saw him, and realized it was back in Castle Dreemurr's chapel; she'd never actually seen him running behind her. For that matter, she didn't think she'd ever seen Sans run at all, hers or the one she just met.

"Sans!" She called out, looking around the nearby area. "Sans, where are you?"

Her voice echoed through the empty streets, filling Glen with an eerie feeling. Sighing, she stepped back inside the elevator. There were only two buttons; one pointed up and the other pointed down. Shrugging, Glen hit the down button. As worried as she was for Sans, she couldn't risk Frisk's trail going cold. With a sigh, she pressed the down button.

Frisk stared at the elevator doors as they slid shut, a satisfied smile on her face. She took a few steps back, her eyes still on the lift right up to the moment she bumped into Sans.

"Hey kid." Sans said, grabbing Frisk's hand. "You look pretty pleased with yourself. Having a dog-gone good time?"

Frisk managed to tear her hand free and quickly backed away from Sans. He stood perfectly still, hands in his pockets. Part of him felt as though he should be getting some pleasure from the look of horror on the child's face, but there was nothing. If anything, he felt tired ... more tired than he'd felt in a long time.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "You seem surprised. You knew we weren't done yet."

Frisk turned only to find Sans already there. With a flick of his hand, he lifted her in the air and pinned her against the wall. Sans slowly approached her as she struggled against his telekinesis.

"Gee, you look scared." Sans said. "Can't imagine why. How many times we been here, kiddo? How many times we killed each other, only to end up right back at the same place again and again and again?"

"Y-you ... you knew?"

"Not at first, maybe. I mean, yeah, a feeling of deja-vu here and there, but that's just life, ain't it? After awhile, though, it was more than just a feelin'. You know for awhile there, I wondered if I was one of those clairvoyants? Thought I was seeing the future. Didn't want to believe it, but it's hard when you start quoting entire conversations before you have them. Eventually, I started remembering everything. I even counted for awhile; stopped that pretty quick. Nothin' will demoralize ya more than knowing just how many times you've walked the same road."

Sans sighed and rubbed his glabella. "You know what the worst part was? Remembering that it wasn't always this way. Knowing that you weren't always a heartless killer. Y'see, when that lady said Toriel, part of me had no clue what she was talkin' about ... but part of me knew she was my friend from behind that door in the ruins."

Frisk didn't reply; she just watched as Sans paced back and forward in front of her.

"She's dead too, isn't she?" Sans said. "You don't have to answer; I'm pretty sure we both know the answer. Anyone with as much LOVE as you wouldn't have it in them to spare anyone. Still, that brings us back to the question of the day."

Three bones materialized in mid-air. They hovered around Sans's outstretched hand for a few moments before one shot toward Frisk, embedding itself in the wall just beside her head.

"Why haven't you reset things?" Sans asked in the same tone of voice he used to ask Grillby for a bottle of ketchup. "Clearly things haven't gone your way. So why keep this run going?"

When Frisk didn't respond, the second bone shot toward her, this one even closer to Frisk's head. Frisk flinched as bits of plaster fell on her cheek.

"Why are you afraid?" Sans persisted. "I've killed you more times than I can count, and you just come right back. What makes this time different?"

Frisk still didn't respond. Sans raised his hand as though to fire the last bone before slowly lowering his hand.

"And why don't I know about her?" Sans approached Frisk and stared her right in the eyes. "This Glenda lady. She's tellin' the truth when she says she knows both of us, yet I don't remember her at all. It's kinda refreshing, to tell ya the truth, but that just makes it more confusing; why not reset and deal with her the way you deal with me?"

When Frisk again didn't respond Sans sighed and walked away. "Goodbye, kid."

He raised his hand to send the final bone flying right through her chest, only to pause when she cried out, "B-because I can't! I can't restore my save and I can't reset the timeline!"

Sans nodded, a feeling of satisfaction spreading through his bones. "You die now and you're food for the buttercups."

Frisk slowly nodded, her eyes on the final bone.

"Why?" Sans asked. "What's changed?"

"I d-don't know. Please believe me, I have no idea!"

Sans stared at her for a long moment before slowly nodding. "Okay, kid; I believe ya."

He raised his hand again.

"I said I don't know!" Frisk screamed.

"And I said I believe you." Sans said. "And you're still a murderer. Once you're dead, I'll take your soul to Asgore myself; it won't save the others, but at least I'll be able to go to sleep without having to worry about going through it all again."

"I can save Papyrus!"

Sans's hand paused again. "How? You can't reset the timeline."

"That woman and her dog are the only new elements; they must be doing something to screw with my ability to reset. If we get rid of them, then I can reset again."

"Uh-huh." Sans said, crossing his arms. "And we go back to the way things were, huh?"

"N-no. I promise; no killings this time. I'll spare everyone; I'll even help you get back to the surface before going my own way."

Sans stared at her. He considered the possibility; being able to see Papyrus and all his friends in Snowdin again. It was tempting ... so tempting.

Slowly, Sans lowered his hand, lowering Frisk to the ground.

"Thank you." Frisk said, "You won't regret-"

The bone caught her right in the chest, pinning her to the wall. She stared down at it in disbelief as blood poured from the wound. She looked up at Sans, the look of shock remaining even as the rest of her went limp.

"Get dunked on." Sans said quietly, looking down at the dead child until he heard the soft chime of the lift. Glancing back, he saw the doors open; Glen must've pushed both buttons to be sure. For some reason, that made Sans chuckle.

Shaking his head, he turned back to Frisk and froze; the kid was gone. All that remained was the blood-stained bone embedded in the wall.

He looked around for some sign of where she'd gone; with that kind of injury, she had to be bleeding. To his amazement, however, there was nothing, not a single drop of blood on anything except the bone. That struck him as strange; there wasn't even any blood on the ground beneath the bone.

Sans knelt beside the bone and stared at it; he'd thought it blood at first, but he realized that it was in fact some kind of strange black ichor. He started to touch it when he remembered Glenda saying that it burned. Glancing around to make sure he was still alone, Sans dug through his pockets before pulling out a sock.

"Glad I finally listened to you, Pap." He said as he wrapped the sock around the bone and yanked it out of the wall. "I just hope Alphys can figure out something from this."

With a final glance around the streets, he hurried toward the lift.


	9. Chapter 8 - Nowhere

**Chapter 8**

 **Nowhere**

In the center of the Deep lies a massive town known simply as Nowhere. It's considered the unofficial capital of the deep, mostly due to the city serving as the hub of the skyway and the headquarters of the skyway repair crew. It's a bustling town bathed by the light of the Lumos, a glowing moon-like sphere that hovered over the city.

The city proper consists of two parts: the Foundation and Central Nowhere. The Foundation is a massive ring of land that houses most of the business and industry of Nowhere, such as the Skyway Repair Crew.

The Foundation surrounded Central nowhere; a much smaller yet still considerably large landmass that hung in the very center of the Foundation. Most of the hundred or so monster residents lived there, mostly in private homes though there were a few apartment complexes.

The Foundation and Central Nowhere are connected by dozens of small roads, all of which were maintained by the Skyway Repair Crew. Roads were always going down due to the shifting of one or both parts of the city or fading enchantments. As such, it saw regular visits from members of the Skyway Repair Crew, such as Golemite and his new apprentice.

Asriel stepped back from the remnants of the road on the Foundation side, sliding the tool that looked like a whisk back into its holster on his belt. Holding a hand to the side of his mouth, he shouted, "Accessway Jay twenty-seven, ready!"

From across the empty space that lay between the Foundation and Central Nowhere, Golemite bellowed, Accessway Cee thirty-two, ready!"

Nodding, Asriel stepped back and tapped the metal tile with the steel toe of his boot. Almost instantly, stones rushed together to form a wide road that linked the two Accessways, bridging the gap between the Foundation and Central Nowhere. Asriel and Golemite crossed the newly-created road, meeting at the center.

"Piece-o-cake." Golemite said, holding out a hand so Asriel could give him a high-five. "Anutha road fixed thanks ta us. You really been pickin' dis up quick."

"Well, like you said." Asriel said, beaming. "Piece-o-cake."

"Ha! True 'nuff. Tell ya what; lunch is on me today. Whaddya say we go hit Crossroads?"

"Heck, yeah!" Asriel said excitedly. "I'm gonna have two cheeseburgers!"

Golemite laughed as Asriel climbed on his shoulder. "Easy dere; eat too much and yer gonna have a tummy-ache, and we still got work ta do today."

"Let's go! Go, go, go!" Asriel chanted, practically hopping up and down.

"All right, Azzie." Golemite said, "Hold on tight!"

The golem ran across the new road, only knocking one or two bricks out as he passed. It was of no concern; the next time the road was called, the fallen bricks would return. It was part of the same enchantment that kept people from falling over the edges and the roads, according to Golemite. Asriel had yet to muster up the courage to test it.

Most of the fancy restaurants were on the Foundation, but a few small diners were open for business in Central Nowhere, mostly catering to the nightshifters such as the Skyway Repair Crew. It was always night in the Deep, just as there was no proper day in the Underground, but the inhabitants did adhere to a standard daily cycle. There were no visual cues; it was just the sort of thing people who lived in Nowhere for any length of time gradually came to know.

Crossroads wasn't the closest diner to where Asriel and Golemite shared an apartment, but it was, in their humble opinion, the best of the lot. The booths had plenty of space for Golemite's massive form, they had booster chairs for smaller monsters like Asriel, and their menu had a little something for everyone.

The lamia at the counter glanced up at them as they entered, a smile soon crossing her face. "Hey, boys! Go ahead and take a seat; I'll be over in a minute to take your order."

"Thanks, Jenny." Golemite rumbled as he and Asriel took their usual booth, Asriel plopping one of the booster seats on his side so talking to Golemite wouldn't cause either of them undue neck strain.

Jenny picked up two menus and moved over to them, her long blue tail trailing behind her as she sashayed her hips their way. Once she was at their table, she glanced at Asriel and gave his ear a playful pinch.

"Hey?" Asriel said, clutching his ears.

She bopped him in the snoot with her pencil. "Ah, you love it. Now, what'll it be tonight?"

Golemite glanced at his menu, his solid orange eyes taking in every entry as though he were studying to a test. "I gonna go wit da Lodestone Platter wit extra corpse, I tink, wit a glass o mineral water."

"I thought you were trying to eat healthy." Jenny said with a smirk.

"Well, dis is a special occasion." Golemite said, nodding at Asriel. "Tha kid passed his Skyway test today."

"Really? That's great!" She swooped down on the embarrassed bossun and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Congratulations, Azzie."

He laughed nervously. "T-thanks, Miss Jenny."

"I'll have to get you somethin' extra special today, on the house." She said, giving Asriel a wink before heading back to the kitchen. Asriel watched her for a moment before turning back to Golemite, who was giving him a look.

"What?" He asked.

"She'll break yer heart, y'know."

"Oh, shut up." Asriel said, trying to ignore the heat rising in her cheeks.

Chuckling, Golemite laid his arm across the table and leaned forward. "So, I saw you got a lettah from da Mayor. Good news?"

"I dunno." Asriel pulled the letter from his pocket and handed it to Golemite.

Golemite held the letter delicately between two fingers. After staring at it for a moment, he glanced nervously at the counter. "She's not lookin', right?"

Asriel shook his head. He resisted the urge to smirk as Golemite pulled out a pair of spectacles. The eyewear looked comically small perched on the lump of rock that served as his nose.

The letter read as follows:

* * *

 _To Skyway Repair Officer DM-118 Asriel Dreemurr:_

 _Your petition for an appointment with the esteemed Mayor Mayor has been accepted. Please arrive promptly at the End of Nowhere alone at 6:00 AM for your audience. Tardiness or the presence of unauthorized personnel with result in the nullification of your appointment._

* * *

Golemite frowned, turning over the page to see if there was anything more. "Huh. Dat's odd."

"You're telling me." Asriel said. "Any idea where this 'End of Nowhere' is?"

"Not a clue." Golemite said, quickly pulling off his spectacles and hiding them as Jenny returned with two trays floating in front of her.

"One Lodestone Platter with extra quartz." She said as a massive tray filled with various stones gently landed in front of the golem. "And a bacon double cheeseburger and an order of spicy cheese fries for the newest member of the Skyway Crew, with a little something extra on the side."

'Something extra' turned out to be a a generous slice of pie topped with whipped cream. Asriel couldn't resist trying a little, but froze the moment the brown custard-like filling hit his tongue.

Jenny's smile faltered. "What's wrong, hun?" She said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Does it taste okay?"

He lowered his fork, his eyes on the table. "Delicious." He said quietly. Shaking his head, he gave her a slightly forced smile. "Butterscotch-Cinnamon, right?"

She beamed at him. "Yeah. Mom taught me how to make it. You enjoy it, okay?"

"I will." He told her.

She gave his fluffy head a quick tousle before heading back to the register.

Golemite watched Asriel for a few moments before asking, "You okay? I haven't seen ya look like dat since we first met."

Asriel sighed. "My mother used to make cinnamon-butterscotch pie. I miss her."

They sat in silence for a good minute before Golemite let out a rumbling cough and said, "Er, I don't wanna seem insensitive-like, but I'm gonna eat now, if dat's okay."

This brought a laugh to Asriel's lips. "Right. Yeah; let's eat."

The food was excellent, as always. Asriel offered Golemite some of his pie, which the golem rejected on the grounds that sugar made him sneeze. Golemite offered Asriel a rather tasty-looking ore, which Asriel rejected on the grounds that he enjoyed having teeth.

"So whatcha gonna do about da meeting, Azzie?" Golemite asked as he brushed the remaining gravel into a pile on his plate.

"I dunno." Asriel said, about half-done with his pie. "I mean, someone's gotta know where the End of Nowhere is. Maybe somewhere on the outer rim of the Foundation?"

"Nah, dat's de edge of Nowhere." Golemite said as Jenny returned to freshen their drinks.

"What's wrong, boys?" Jenny said as she filled their glasses. "Somethin' bothering you?"

Golemite gestured to Asriel. "Kid's got a meeting with Mayor Mayor at the End of Nowhere, but we don't know where dat is."

"Well, it'd be the middle, wouldn't it?"

They stared at her. She chuckled and said, "He's talkin' about the city, obviously, and as any Skyway worker should know, Nowhere is basically a circle. The outer rim could be called the edge, but there isn't any one point that could truly be called an end; it just keeps going around."

She pulled a napkin from the dispenser and used a french fry to draw a circle in ketchup. Drawing several lines going from the center to the outer edge, she said, "So if we eliminate any of the outer points as the end, that just leaves us with the inner point."

Golemite looked at Asriel, his stone face confused. "Uh, does dat make any sense to you, Azzie?"

"Er, well ... I-I guess I can kinda see ..."

"No you can't." Jenny interrupted with a carefree laugh. "I'm playing with you; it's just the line from an old song. Here; I'll show you."

She moved over to the old jukebox beside the register. After putting in a coin and peering at the entries for a few moments, she said, "Ah, E-nineteen."

A few button presses later, and the silky-smooth notes of a soft jazz number filled the air of the diner.

* * *

I lost my dearest love, a lady fair in form and face

I searched the city day and night but never found a trace,

"I'm at the End of Nowhere" she told me over the phone

I've wandered every road and yet I still wander alone

I lost myself in Nowhere, I'm lost without a friend

Around the rim I've searched, through every alley, street, and bend

If only I could find her, all her wishes I would tend

But Nowhere is a circle, and the middle is the end.

* * *

Jenny hummed along, her hips swaying in time with the beat as she left Asriel and Golemite stunned at the table.

"Whatchoo thinkin'?" Golemite asked.

Asriel wiped his mouth with a napkin before hopping out of he seat. "I think I better get moving if I'm gonna make it on time. Thanks for dinner, Golemite; I'll see you back at the apartment, okay?"

"Sure ting."

Asriel waved goodbye to Jenny and headed for the door, stopping when Golemite called out, "Hey, Azzie!"

"Yeah?" Asriel asked.

"Be careful, all right? Mayor Mayor's a bit ... what's de word, Jenny?"

"Enigmatic." Jenny said.

"No, de other one; like dat stuff goin' through de phone lines.

Jenny chuckled and shook her head. "I think he means eccentric, Asriel."

"Yeah, dat's the one; he's all full of eccentric. Not harmful or nuthin, but he can be a bit wierd, that's all."

Asriel hurried through the streets of Central Nowhere. Unlike New Home, the buildings grew shorter and further apart the closer they were to center. Most of this open land was converted into mushroom gardens. The glowing caps grew quite large in the Nowhere dirt, some taller than the trees in Snowdin. Asriel enjoyed the parks; there was something soothing about the glow of the mushrooms and the sounds of the artificial streams that flowed through the parks.

Even so, he rarely went further than the parks near his apartment complex. One park looked like another; besides, a small group of water-benders frequented the nearby parks, and it was always fun to watch them compete to make the best water sculptures.

The parks near the center of Central Nowhere were much larger, but none were larger than the one in the very center, where all the streams seemed to converge in a circle around a single raised hill with a single ashen-barked tree with dark violet leaves.

Asriel approached the tree slowly, looking around uncertainly. There didn't appear to be anyone around whatsoever.

Clutching the letter in his paws, Asriel called out, "Um, hello? Mister Mayor Mayor? I'm here about the appointment. Hello?"

Only crickets replied. Asriel sighed and rubbed his eyes; he was already tired from his exams, his first official day at work, and the long walk through Central Nowhere. For all he knew, Jenny was wrong and the mayor of Nowhere was wondering where the hell Asriel was.

He waited for a few minutes before shoving the paper in his pocket in disappointment and sat down with his back against the tree.

Staring up at the stars of the Deep, he let his thoughts wander to his friends and family on the surface. Were they okay? Were they happy? Did mom ever forgive dad? Was Frisk even still with them?

"I miss them." He said, hugging his knees to his chest.

"I know." said a timid voice.

Asriel looked up to see the shadow child standing just beyond the stream encircling the tree. Just as before, the child's body was solid black, discernible only in the shape it left around it. He might have easily thought it facing the other way were it not for the child's glowing white eyes.

He started to rise when a shudder made him fall on his backside. The tree and the ground around it were rising. Asriel struggled to stand, but by the time he made it to his feet, the floating island was too high from the ground to risk jumping. The shadow child stared up at him wordlessly as he floated ever upward toward the shining form of the Lumos.

Asriel was certain he was going to crash into the glowing moon, but as they drew near, a circular indentation on the bottom slid open, revealing darkness within. Asriel clung to the tree as it rose through the opening into the dark inside of the moon.

After a few moments of staring into the silent darkness now surrounding him, Asriel called out, "H-hello? M-mister Mayor Mayor?"

"State your name." Said a stern voice that seemed to surround Asriel.

"Asriel Dreemurr, sir. Skyway Repair Officer DM-118."

"And your purpose?"

Asriel looked down at his chest, the warmth of the Everstar giving him some comfort.

"Well?"

"I'm looking for something called the Everstar."

A long silence followed this announcement. Just as Asriel wondered if something was wrong, a massive flaming skull appeared above him.

"YOU SEEK THE EVERSTAR?!" The skull roared.

"Y-yes!" Asriel said, trembling. "I need to find it so I can rejoin my parents."

"THE BRINGER OF WISHES, THE GRANTER OF ULTIMATE DESIRES, AND YOU WISH TO USE IT TO CLING TO YOUR BIRTH-GIVERS?"

Though the flaming skull glared at him, Asriel felt a sudden surge of determination. Stepping forward, he stood his ground and said, "Yes!"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THE ENORMITY OF WHAT YOU ASK? THE EVERSTAR LIES SCATTERED ACROSS THE DEEP! SUCH A SEARCH IS SURELY BEYOND SUCH A SMALL THING AS YOURSELF!"

Asriel started to give an angry reply when he noticed the skull's jaw seemed very wobbly. Sure enough, it hit the ground in mid-word and rolled until it caught some kind of hanging cloth that Asriel realized surrounded both him and the skull.

"Are you okay?" Asriel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"WHAT? OF COURSE I'M OKAY! I'M FANTASTIC!" One of the flaming eyes went out, revealing a dead bulb. Coupled with the missing jaw, it made the skeletal head look a lot less intimidating.

Asriel took a few steps to the side, and noted the skull did not follow. Frowning, he moved toward the skull. He could see something poofy poking out just beneath the curtain.

"STAY BACK!" shouted the voice, but Asriel could hear it coming from two places; one above him, the other directly ahead.

Asriel grabbed the curtain and flung it open to reveal a small booth occupied by the strangest monster he'd ever seen. About two feet high, basic humanoid in form, but with wild blue, green, and white hair all over the creature's head and face, resembling a slightly tacky feather duster. Two massive bat-like ears stuck out at odd angles from the creature's head, and a long tail with a massive poof-ball on the end hung from the creature's posterior, the tip of which Asriel previously saw.

"Eeek!"

The creature said, letting go of the complicated mechanisms that filled his little booth.

"All right." Asriel said taking a step forward even as the monster tried to back further into his little control pod. "Who are you?"

"I'm Mayor!" The little creature squeaked. "Mayor the Mayor!"

"Seriously?"

The creature sighed and shook his shaggy head. "Ah, forget it. This was a stupid idea. I told him it was a stupid idea."

"Told who?"

"My sister."

Another wild head poked out from a different part of the curtains, this one identical to the first except for a vague sense of femininity in her face and body, and her hair was purple, pink, and yellow. She also seemed a little more well groomed than her brother; most of her hair was in braids, the hair on top of her head worn in a topknot.

"It didn't work because you screwed up the timing, you dingus!" she said, eyeing Asriel nervously.

"No," Her brother said, shooting her a dirty look. "It didn't work because your little monstrosity started falling apart."

"It fell apart because you weren't controlling it right!"

Asriel watched the two creatures squabble in disbelief for a few moments before finally shaking his said. "Um, sorry to interrupt, but which one of you is the Mayor?"

"I am!" They both said in perfect unison.

Asriel was taken aback; part of him expected them to argue over the title. "So Mayor ..."

"... Mayor." Sister mayor moved to her brother's side, not walking as much as hopping like a bunny. Side by side, they both smiled at him.

Shaking his head, Asriel said, "I thought ... I heard that the mayor was a boy.'

"That I am." said the first mayor, bobbing his poofy head.

"Then she's the mayor too?"

She laughed. "Don't be silly; he's the mayor. I'm just Mayor."

Asriel blinked a few times, trying to wrap his head around this. "So you're both Mayor."

"No, my sister just said that I'm the mayor." Mayor the mayor exchanged glances with his sister, the both of them shaking their heads as though thinking Asriel silly.

"How do you tell each other apart?" Asriel asked.

They both laughed at this. "Well, I'm a boy and she's a girl. You're young, but I didn't think you were that young, Mister Dreemurr."

Asriel rubbed his temples, trying to ignore the headache slowly taking form. "Why were you trying to scare me?"

"Mayor thought I needed a new image. Something strong, ruthless. I told her I was plenty ruthless already, but she never listens."

"You're the one who was all worried about people thinking you were a big fuzzy pushover."

Asriel couldn't get the feeling that the squabbling siblings were about to engage in a very embarrassing slap-fight, and quickly stepped between them. "Listen, Mayor ..."

"Yes?" They asked in chorus.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Asriel continued, "I'm here to ask about the Everstar."

"Oh ... right. Right." Mayor the mayor glanced around and said, "Um, you mind if we clean this stuff up first?"

"Go ahead."

The two monster Mayors immediately set to hopping around the room. Sister Mayor levitated the skull and jaw away as Mayor the mayor quickly pulled open the curtains, finishing by yanking the thick black canvass from overhead

Asriel gasped; the tree platform that brought him to the moon now sat almost but not quite in the center of a large spherical chamber easily twice as large as his apartment complex. Instead of homes, however, the walls of the sphere were filled bookshelves; hundreds and hundreds of bookshelves. Some even floated in segments around a central tower right next to Asriel's platform, itself filled shelf-to-shelf with hundreds of tomes.

"Whoa!" Asriel said, "I've never seen so many books!"

"Are you kidding?" Mayor Mayor said, spreading his arm to indicate the library. "This is a paltry collection at best. Surely you've seen better."

Asriel thought the paltry collection of books in Castle Dreemurr; throwaways from the surface that were badly water-stained and rarely had covers. "Not really, no."

"That's a shame!" Sister Mayor said, "Such a genuine shame! He would've liked our old collection."

"Indeed. Of course, his father was just a princeling back then."

"My father?" Asriel said, surprised.

Mayor the mayor nodded. "Yes, Asgore Dreemurr. He's doing well, I trust? When I saw your name in the pile of requests, I had a feeling you might be a relative."

"I'm his son." Asriel said.

"Yes, I know; you look quite a bit like him."

"You knew him."

The Mayors nodded in unison, Sister Mayor saying, "Very well. We were his advisors during the war with the humans."

Asriel stared at them for a long moment before finally managing to say, " But ... it's been thousands of years!"

Sister Mayor elbowed her brother in the ribs. "He means why aren't we dead yet."

Flushing, Asriel opened his mouth to reply, but Mayor the mayor was already waving him off.

"It's a just question, one that ties into your own. Come with us, Prince Dreemurr, and let us tell you about the Everstar."


	10. Chapter 9 - Lab Rat

**Chapter 9**

 **Lab Rats**

The feeling of eeriness persisted as Glen and Jake passed through the Core. The thrum of machinery was uninterrupted, though the metal-walled corridors made her footsteps echo eerily. Even more disturbing, however, were the piles of ash Glen knew she'd find; some along the corridor, some lying in adjoining corridors; all along the path. She didn't need Headache sensors to know they were the remains of monsters.

The thought that sweet little Frisk, the faerie-winged little girl who looked up to Glen as an aunt, could be connected in any way to the horror that perpetrated such a genocide was unthinkable.

"The way I see it." Glenda said, remaining alert, "I'm either in the wrong time or the wrong reality. It's the only two possibilities ... well, other than me just dreaming the whole thing."

"Still," She said, glancing around. "This doesn't feel like the Dream Realm. My rune isn't shining non-stop, for one thing."

Jake didn't respond, being fully absorbed in his search. His monitor was so close to the ground that it occasionally scraped against the metal floor.

"So we're looking at time or alternate reality. God, I hope it's alternate reality; I am not in the mood for another time debacle. Knowing my luck, he'd show up again. Not that that'd be a bad thing; we had a lot of fun in that blue box of his. Y'know, I based the design of the CPD on ... Jake?"

Jake came to a sudden halt. After a few moments of intense sniffing, he let out a whine.

"Lost the trail?" Glen asked, putting a hand on the top of his monitor. "Eh, don't let it bother you, boy. You musta caught the trail she left when she came through here."

Jake's face looked annoyed as it returned to his monitor. Glen gave him a pat. "Yeah, me too. Still, it looks like she's already done all the damage there is to do down here."

Jake sat on his metal haunches and gave Glen a questioning look as the Dreamer paced back and forth across the corridor.

"Nothing for it." Glen said with a sigh. "She'll be long gone by the time we get back ... if she has any brains, that is. We're already this far; let's keep heading to the Lab. The sooner I know just what's going on, the better prepared we'll be to move ahead."

They continued on in silence, leaving the core and entering the hotel that separated it from the rest of Hotland. The hotel was empty, save for more piles of dust and a rather bizarre fountain that was spitting a steady stream of water onto the carpet. On impulse, Glen checked several of the rooms. Ultimately, she found nothing but dust, furniture, and a pile of slime next to an over-turned mop-bucket.

"No survivors." Glen said, approaching the tiny pile of dust near the front doors. She crouched down beside it, shaking her head. "I don't get it. I mean, if there were a few hostile monsters, yeah, but she was being thorough. She hunted each monster down. Why?"

Jake sat down by the pile of dust, a sad look on his face. Glen gave his head a few pats before rising to her feet. "C'mon; shouldn't be much further."

Indeed, it wasn't; the lift was right where Asgore said it should be. After some trial and error with the buttons, the lift doors eventually opened to reveal a massive white building labeled 'LAB'.

"Gee." Glen said, rolling her eyes. "Just guessing here, but something tells me that's Alphys's lab."

Jake barked and hurried out of the lift, Glen following behind at a light jog. She reached the sliding doors that led into the lab just a few moments after the robot dog.

"Alphys? Alphys, are you ..." Glen stopped, looking at her bare wrist. "Oh, right. I left it on Headache. Good thinking, Glen."

Sighing, Glen turned her attention to the console by the door.

"Ah." Glen said, "A password lock. Let's see; just letter keys and an enter button. Could be anything, I suppose."

Jake gave her a curious look.

"Well, it's probably a word." She reasoned. "Could be a place she's fond of or a type of food she likes, perhaps one of the animes she loves so much ..."

She allowed herself a grin as she typed in the letters. "Or maybe it's someone she cares for, like say, oh, I dunno ... Undyne."

Glen mimicked the chime of the console as her passcode was accepted and the doors slid open. Shaking her head and still smiling, she stepped through the door with Jake following on her heels.

"Alphys?" Glen called as she stepped into the lab. "Maker's breath, I thought her lab in Ebott was a mess."

A mess was putting it lightly; Alphys's lab was as organized as a Rimstakken workshop. Bits of half-finished projects lay around the place, most of which looked quite recent. Weaponry, it looked like; makeshift rifles, the beginnings of a mech-suit, something that looked like an attempt to make something akin to a UBT. None of the projects were complete; most looked to have only seen a bit of work, like Alphys had been too nervous to focus on one project for too long.

"Too nervous or afraid." Glen said, thinking to the signs of genocide she'd already passed. Shaking her head, she said, "Well, whatever; at least there's plenty here to work with."

She moved from pile to pile, harvesting bits of machinery from each. Alphys did some pretty impressive work, even when she was distracted. After a bit of poking about, she produced a small handheld device that looked like a pair of tongs, each half with a metal plate on the inside and a small monitor on the outside.

"All right." She said, straightening the wires. "Let's give it a go."

She clamed the tongs on her hand. The monitor displayed a series of waveforms of varying colors. She tweaked the small knobs along the handle until the waveforms were perfectly aligned, a small box on the bottom displaying the characters 'J-27'.

"Junacai twenty-seven." She said. "Good. That's a start anyway. Now, let's see about finding Alphys."

The lab itself was absent of life, but also of the tell-tale dust piles. After checking both the first and second floor, however, Glen was a bit stumped as to where to find the scientist.

"There must be something I'm missing." Glen said, standing across from a massive poster of an anime catgirl. It reminded her faintly of her wife, if only because of the ears. Her gaze eventually fell to Jake, who was sniffing around an armoire. With some difficulty, he managed to prod one of the doors open, only to immediately get buried in a pile of dirty labcoats.

Glen couldn't help but snicker as Jake fought his way free of the pile. She moved to help him, only to immediately recoil from the smell.

"By the Creator." She said, holding her nose. "How long has it been since she did her laundry?"

Jake stumbled away from the pile, only to pause a few feet from Glen. The monitor once again displayed a large sniffing nose.

Glen snapped her fingers. "Good boy! Sniff her out!"

Jake barked and took off running, Glen following close behind. They rushed down the escalator and right to the door labeled with a basic yellow figure that faintly resembled Alphys.

"The bathroom?" Glen said, scratching her head as she approached the door. "Ugh. Looks like another dead-"

She stopped as the door slid upon, revealing what was clearly the inside of an elevator.

"Clever girl." Shaking her head, Glen and Jake entered the elevator and pressed the only button there was to press. A brief rumble later, and they were going down.

After a strangely long ride, the doors eventually opened to reveal a dimly-lit room with a single hallway. A thick layer of dust lay on the ground, broken by several sets of footprints. There was only one path, so with a shrug, Glen headed down the hallway.

Jake followed behind Glen, his tail low and his face worried. Truth be told, Glen didn't feel much better; The eeriness of the earlier areas escalated to full-on creepiness at the sight of the flickering lights of the secret lab. It didn't help when the consoles installed along the walls would randomly activate, showing random datafiles. Glen ignored them; she was more concerned with finding Alphys than reading about experiments at the moment.

The corridor eventually came to an end in a small room with a large elevator. Two passages split off from either side.

Sighing, Glen called out, "Alphys? Where the hell are you?"

A short stooped figure wearing a lap coat appeared in the shadows of the right passage. She approached slowly, a worried look on her yellow-scaled face. "H-hello?"

"Alphys." Glen said, breathing a sigh of relief. "By the Creator, I'm glad to see you."

"Y-you're human."

"Er, sorta." Glenda rubbed the back of her hair. "Look, I know this is confusing, but I think I can answer a lot of both of our questions if you let me borrow your hand for just a second."

Alphys pulled her hand back, somehow managing to look more worried. "Why should I trust you?"

Glen took a deep Breath. "Your name is Alphys; you're the Royal Scientist, promoted after constucting a robot with a soul who went on to become one of the biggest musical stars of the Systems Alliance. You like ramen noodles, ice cream, and your favorite anime is Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, which is kinda funny seeing as its sequel is your most hated anime. You like the water, but don't know how to swim, and when you're nervous, you stutter. At the moment, I'm guessing that's all the time, but hey; given what's happened, I can't really blame you. You love Undyne, and your best friends are Bratty and Catty. You're favorite color-"

"T-that's enough!" She said, holding up clawed hand. "How do you know all that?"

"I'll tell you everything, just as soon as I run my little scan on you. It won't hurt." Glen assured her as she pulled out her tong-sensor device. "I just need to figure out the specifics of this situation before proceeding; to do that, I need a reading from someone who isn't me or Jake here."

Jake barked at the sound of his name. Alphys's gaze fell to the KEI-9 unit, her fear fading slightly.

"T-that's your dog?" She asked, crouching down to look at him. "Quite an impressive design! Did you build him yourself?"

"Jake?" Glen said, glancing at her friend. "Nah, he's on loan from a friend. I'd scan him with my little device, but that won't work because ... well, he's from the same place as me. I need someone else, so if you don't mind."

"O-okay." Alphys said, "But not here; it's not safe. F-follow me."

She shuffled down the corridor to the right of the lift. Glen traded looks with Jake and shrugged before following behind.

"How did you manage to insert your transmission into my coded audio-link?" Alphys asked as she glanced nervously from side-to-side.

"A bracelet with inbuilt transmitters."

"Can I see your bracelet?"

"You could if I didn't leave it with the rest of my gear up at Castle Dreemurr."

Alphys stopped and turned to face Glen. "Is K-king Asgore-"

"Perfectly safe." Glen assured her.

"And the human child?" Alphys asked.

Glen sighed again. "She managed to shake us."

Alphys didn't say anything for a moment. Shaking her head, she said, "C-come on; w-we're almost there now."

Alphys sped up as they drew near a large chamber. Glen could just make out a few beds when her foot came down on something and stuck. Jake approached, quickly trapping his front paws as well.

"What the ..." Glen tugged at her foot, but the goop was seeping between her toes, holding her fast. Jake whined and looked pitifully at her.

"I didn't do anything. Alphys?" Glen said, glancing up.

"Now!"

Figures leapt from every bed. Some short, some tall, some furry and some scaled; all were monsters, and all were armed.

There was one present who wasn't a monster; a tall android stood among the crowd. He boasted a fairly advanced design and an impressive set of legs, though he bore multiple signs of recent repair, the tell-tale marks of a sharp knife across much of its surface. He raised an arm that ended in some sort of energy blaster before it said in a static-filled voice, "Don't move, Darling."

"What is this?" Glen asked, her eyes on Alphys.

"I'm s-sorry, human." Alphys said, "But we can't take the chance that you aren't working with the human."

"Working with the ... you think I came to help Frisk kill everyone?" Glen said, not bothering to hide her incredulity. "Jesus, Alphys, I don't even know if this is my Frisk!"

"So you do know her." The robot said, giving Glen a dazzling smile. "Now be a dear, and hand over your weapon."

"This?" Glen said, holding up her makeshift device. "This isn't a weapon; it's a Dimensional analyzer; it reads a person's flux and indicates the standard reality code of their origin universe."

Most of the monsters took this in with looks of confusion. Alphys and the robot, however, seemed intrigued.

"Look." Glen clamped it on her hand again, holding it so they could see the screen. "Junicai twenty-seven. That's where I'm from. If I'm right, you could clamp that on anyone else in this room ..."

"Arf!"

"-Except Jake," Glen said, nodding. "And it's gonna give you a different reading."

"Why not Jake?" Alphys asked.

Rolling her eyes, Glen said, "Because he's from the same universe as me! Look!"

Glen clamped the device on Jake's tail, eliciting a yelp from the unsuspecting canine-bot. After manipulating the dials to align the waveforms, it displayed the same universe designation as before.

"It doesn't hurt, it just takes a few seconds. If it's the same, then I've somehow gone back in time." She rolled her eyes before adding, "Again. If it's different, then I've somehow slipped into a different dimension."

"So like what's the difference?" Asked a young woman with the face (and jaws) of a crocodile.

"Well, if this is about time, I've gotta be careful; actions I take now could affect my future. That's how I know you, Alphys; I met you and Undyne in the town of Ebott ... past the barrier. You two are married, you have a big lab with pretty much the only tech the town ever uses. "

That got the rest of the monsters whispering amongst themselves. Glen continued, "If this is a matter of being in the wrong dimension, it changes everything. I can help without worrying about altering the future."

"Can you bring back the dead?" Alphys asked, her eyes on the ground.

Surprised by the question, Glen could only answer with silence.

"Can you?"

"Not normally, no." Glen admitted.

"Then it doesn't matter." Alphys said. "If you're from our future, then it's a future that's already lost. Undyne gone; the human killed her."

Glen closed her eyes. Papyrus was bad enough, but Undyne fell too? It was almost unthinkable, especially considering that once again, it was little Frisk who was the killer.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Glen said, "Look, the dimensional thing can wait; what I really need is your help locating Frisk ... the human. There's something wrong with her, something not normal. I could use your help."

"I'm sorry." Alphys said, "I want to believe you, but we're the last monsters left in the Underground; we simply can't afford to take the chance. Mettaton?"

"No." Glen said as Mettaton took aim. "No, you don't have to do this. I can help, I can-"


	11. Chapter 10 - Grim Humor

**Chapter 10**

 **Grim Humor**

Alphys led Mettaton into the heart of the secret lab. The android carried both the unconscious Glenda and her robot dog as though they weighed nothing. When they reached a series of lifepods, Alphys activated a nearby console, opening two of the pods.

"B-be careful." Alphys said after Metatton rather unceremoniously dumped Jake into one pod.

"Sorry, dear." Alphys said, taking care to lay Glenda down carefully. "I think the actuator in my right arm is acting up."

"Sit down." Alphys said, hurrying over to Mettaton. She pulled off the cracked outer casing and looked at what lay beneath. "It's not too bad. Sit still for a second."

Mettaton sat on a nearby stool and waited patiently as Alphys did her work. "Thank you, Alphys dear."

"You can thank me by not falling apart." Alphys said, half-joking. "I nearly had a heart attack when I found you in pieces."

"I'm sorry, dear." Mettaton said.

"You don't have to be sorry; I'm just glad I was able to put you back together." She set her tools down on a nearby tray before grabbing the casing. "Once the human's dealt with, I'll be able to give you a full overhaul."

"I know you will, darling." Mettaton said, smiling at her. "And don't worry; the little beast has no way in here. We've resealed the doors, reset the passwords, and reactivated the alarm on the secret elevator."

"G-good." Alphys said as the casing clicked into place. "I've lost too many friends today as it is."

"I know." Mettaton glanced at the pod containing the Dreamer. "I must say, she had quite a story. Time travel, alternate dimensions ... do you think any of it was true?"

"I don't know." Alphys said, rubbing her arm. "I kinda hope so."

"Really?"

"W-well, the idea that somewhere out there, U-undyne and me are m-married and on the s-surface ..." Alphys blushed. "It m-makes it easier."

Mettaton smiled as best as he could with his busted face and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "I'll get back to the others. Don't worry, Alphy; we'll get through this."

"Y-yeah." Alphys said, giving him a smile. "J-just a matter of time."

Once Mettaton was gone, Alphys let out a deep breath and turned her gaze to the slumbering Glen within the pod.

Sans coughed and said, "Pod-den me, Alphys."

Alphys nearly jumped a foot in the air before spinning to face the short skeleton. "S-sans! I thought you were going to fight the human child."

"I did." Sans approached the pod. "Our pal here showed up right in the middle of our fight. Kid woulda had me if she hadn't shot some sort of beam out and yanked the knife outta her hands."

"Telekinesis?"

"Nah, this felt different. I dunno; deeper somehow." Sans's eyes fell on the strange tong device.

Alphys followed his gaze. "Oh ... she made that. She said it could tell if something came from another dimension, but-"

"Really? That's neat." Sans picked it up and clamped it on his hand.

"Sans!" Alphys said, horrified. "We don't know what it does!"

"One way to find out." After some trial and error, Sans figured out that the knobs altered the wavelengths, but wasn't sure what to do with that. Sighing, he set it on the console.

"Speaking of the human," Sans said, pulling the wrapped bone from his pocket. "I managed to peg the little brat good before she scrammed on me, but ... well, here, check out the bone."

Alphys took the bone carefully from the clean end and peered at it through her thick glasses. "Strange; my research said that human blood was either red or blue depending on where it was in the body."

"I was hopin' you could make somethin' of it." Sans said.

"I'll put it in the analyzer." Alphys said, motioning for him to follow her over to the analyser.

The analyser was, as most of Alphys's projects, a mish-mash of materials. The Underground had limited resources, most of which came from trash dropping from the surface. Still, Alphys was intelligent and creative, a combination that could accomplish pretty much everything as long as her resolve remained true. That said, the input chamber of the analyser was an old food dehydrator, the various trays used to house multiple materials if necessary.

Alphys carefully set the bone into the the dehydrator and closed the lid. Sans leaned against a convenient wall as she went to work on the analyser's console. Light shone through the slits of the input chamber as the analyser performed its usual array of scans.

Sans glanced at Alphys as they waited for the results. "You okay?"

"Not really." Alphys said, her gaze falling. "I just keep thinking about ... y'know, if I could have done something."

He stared at her for a few moments before nodding. "Me too."

"Sans ..."

"I saw the kid leaving the Ruins, I saw the dust, but I lied to myself. Told myself it was something else. I mean, human or not, she was just a kid." He sighed. "I could've stopped her there easily. She wasn't nearly as strong then. I guess I was just hoping that maybe this time..."

His voice trailed off. He shook his head with a sigh. "I guess it doesn't matter now."

Alphys gave him a timid smile and a friendly pat on the arm before turning her gaze back to the analyser's display.

"Let's see," Alphys said, adjusting her glassed, "Taking out the common elements present in the bone and discounting the natural magical resonance ... whoa."

"Whoa?"

She stepped away from the monitor so that Sans could take a better look. He looked at the readout and let out a low whistle. "Doesn't that look familiar?"

"Structurally, it looks identical to the determination we extracted from the human souls." She said. "But its integrity seems much stronger. No ... stronger's the wrong word. Mind you, I've no idea what this is, but it's certainly a cohesive force."

"Any idea why Glen said it burned her?"

Alphys gave him a curious look. "Glen?"

"The human ... the other human." Sans gestured to her pod. "Some of it got on her when she was struggling with the child. Glen claimed it burned."

Raising an eyebrow, Alphys moved back to Glen's pod. Lifting the cover, she produced a syringe and drew out a small amount of blood. She produced another syringe, this time taking some of her own blood. After the pod door was once again secure, she moved back to the analyser and fiddled with the controls.

"Whatcha doin'?" Sans asked.

"Extracting a sample of the ichor." Alphys said, watching as a tiny needle approached the bone. "I want to test it against both human and monster cells."

Sans watched as Alphys carefully put a drop of blood from both syringes on a small glass slide in the analyser tray. Magnifiying the view on screen on Glenda's blood, she slowly lowered the extraction needle until it touched the small red drop. Immediately, the black ichor spread through the cells, soon converting the entire drop into more of itself.

She repeated this process with the monster blood; if anything, the process was even faster this time.

"Hang on." Alphys said, redirecting the camera to the bone itself. "I thought so."

"What's up?" Sans moved closer to the screen to get a better look. The ichor had indeed spread across the bone, though nowhere near as fast as it had with the blood.

"It's converting foreign tissue into more of itself." She said thoughtfully. "But still retaining the traits of the converted material. Look, the converted bone is still solid."

She prodded the black segments of bone with her syringe, showing it to be solid. Before Sans could respond, however, Alphys's eyes widened. She moved the camera back to the slide with the two drops of blood; her blood was still ichor, but Glenda's blood was once again red.

"Huh." Sans said. "What happened there?"

"I don't know." Frowning, she emtied the syringe into a petri dish and set it in the input chamber. This time, when she injected the ichor, they watched as the blackness spread, converting the blood quickly. Then, when it was about half-converted, the ichor slowly converted back into blood. She tried it again with her blood in a separate dish; the conversion happened quickly, though it was markedly slower.

"What do ya make of that?" Sans asked.

"I don't know." Alphys confessed, rubbing her eyes. "Maybe humans are resistant to the ichor's effects. Perhaps the burning sensation she felt was just her body fighting the conversion."

"Humans can't be immune; the kid's full of the stuff." Sans shook his head. "Maybe that's what's wrong with the kid; maybe this ichor's like an infection, turns people wrong."

"Liquid evil?"

Sans shrugged. "If the shoe drips."

Alphys said, her eyes on the screen. Shaking her head, she said, "Do you mind if I keep the bone? I'd like to study it more."

"Sure. Just be careful; the last thing we need is for that stuff to spread." Sans watched as Alphys put the bone into zero-gravity storage container. The bone floated in the center of the container, spinning slightly.

Shaking his head, Sans said, "Speaking of, I need your help; that kid's still down here, and as our new friend recently discovered, there's a barrier out there sealing everything in."

"What do you think the human child's after?"

"Dunno. Might not be after anything; might just be down here to kill. All the more reason to find them and put them somewhere where they and their ooze can't cause any more damage."

"Agreed." Alphys said. "Fortunately, I've got cameras pretty much everywhere."

"Well, all right." Sans said, clapping his hands together. "Let's go find us a human child."

"A-actually, there's something I've been needing to check up. Meet me up in the normal lab in about ten minutes?"

"What's the delay?" Sans asked curiously.

"N-nothing important; there are a few projects I left down here I need to check up on. I also want to put the bone somewhere secure. Don't worry; I'll b-be up in a few minutes."

Sans watched as Alphys hurried away. Something about her demeanor struck him as slightly off. Sure, she was always a bit stand-offish, even moreso after they lost contact with Undyne, but Sans had the distinct impression that she was hiding something from him.

Still, he had enough to worry about as it was. He started to leave as well when he glanced back at Glen and Jake in their respective pods. After a few moments, he sauntered over to the pods and idly pushed a few buttons on both pod control panels.

"There." he said, a satisfied grin spread across his skull as he departed. "That should do it."


	12. Chapter 11 - Trouble

**Chapter 11**

 **Trouble**

The shopkeeper of Ebott's only grocery stoor glanced up the moment she heard the jingle of the door bell. ""Welcome to O'aka's ... oh, hello Miss Glen."

"Evenin' Shirley." Glen said as the door shut behind her. "Having a good night?"

Shirley rolled her eyes. "It's two in the morning, Glen; I wanna go home and go to sleep."

"Oh, come on." Glen said with a grin. "Sleep is for the weak."

She wandered down near the small bakery; it wasn't open that late, but sometimes there were leftovers still there at a discount. Not that day, however; in fact, there wasn't much of anything in the bakery area, other than a small loaf of whole-grain bread that Glenda was certain had been there since the first day she stepped into the store over ten years previously.

In fact, there was a distinct lack of merchandise all over. Glen passed aisle after aisle, staring at the shelves she'd never seen so empty. In the end, she found a box of off-brand chocolate chip cookies and a half-gallon of skim milk.

Shirley chuckled as Glen set the items near her register. "Eating healthy again, huh?"

"Bah. I just want a snack; good thing too; not much to choose from here."

"Don't worry." Shirley said, ringing up Glen's purchase. "Next shipment should be here early in the morning.."

"What happened? There's not a hurricane heading here or something, is there?"

Shirley laughed and shook her head. "Nah. Our recent surge in population's been making it hard for us to keep stock."

"Surge in population?"

"You didn't know? Jesus, Glenda, you need to get out of that workshop during the daylight sometime."

"Never." Glen said, handing over the money with a smile. "And don't call me that."

"Sorry, Glen." Shirley shook her head as she put Glen's purchase in a bag. "If you insist on remaining nocturnal, things should be back to normal soon enough. Mark's already paid the carpenters to expand the store."

"Oh? Guess the new folk brought some money, huh?"

Shirley reached in the till and brought out a single coin. She handed it to Glen, who looked at it curiously.

"Is this ... gold?" Glen said, eyeing the goat head etched on one side of the coin.

"It sure is." Shirley took it back and dropped it in the till. "The new people have a ton of it. We've made out a fair exchange rate."

Glen crossed her arms and gave Shirley an incredulous look.

"All right!" Shirley confessed, "It's a little more fair for us ... still, it's going to better the community, right? They certainly wasted no time cleaning out our store shelves."

"Hmm." Glen felt like it was still pretty damn exploitative, but she kept her feelings to hersel f as she picked up her bag. "Well, G'night, Shirley."

"Good night, Glen."

Glen approached the front door, only it to be suddenly flung open by a skeleton wearing what appeared to be paper mache armor.

"Spaghetti!" He cried out, his eyes wide in panic. Glen was at once startled and intruiged; she'd seen skeletons back on Vinta, raised after death to continue on. Those were different than the skeleton facing her, however; where Vintan skeletons were bound to their remains and unable to move in any way other than that which their joints allowed, this skeleton had a face. Oh, it was definitely skull-like, but where a Vinta skeleton's bone was rigid, this skeleton's skull moved and emoted. At the moment, it was clearly emoting panic.

"Tell me they haven't run out!" The skeleton demanded, shaking Glen by the shoulders.

"Uh, I think I saw some still on the shelf." Glen said, still a bit stunned.

"Thank you, human!" With that, the skeleton dashed into the store. Glen watched him for a moment before turning to the door to leave. Unfortunately, she did so just as the door closed right in her face, knocking her to the floor.

She slowly opened her eyes only to find herself staring up at the flickering florescent bulb. It wasn't the warm yellow bulb of O'aka's Grocery, however, but one of the slightly blue-tinged lights of Alphys's lab.

Glen found she was in some kind of stasis pod that looked to have been at least partially converted from an of refridgerator, the door mysteriously open. A quick glance around found several others nearby, the pod directly next to hers open as well. The cookies and milk were naturally gone with the rest of the dream, much to Glen's disappointment.

"Jake?" She called out, looking for some sign of her robotic canine companion. There was no answering bark; there wasn't anything. No one else was even in the room.

As she climbed out of the pod, she noticed her little reality-detector sitting on the console beside her pod. With a sigh, she picked it up and slid it on her belt. Without a clear answer on the reality/temporal debate, she'd just have to be careful.

There were two doors; rather predictably, she managed to find the door to the supply closet first. Shaking her head, she approached the other door. As she reached for the controls, however, a hair-raising wail from behind the sliding panel froze her in place.

She took a step back, wishing she'd brought Headache with her. That feeling doubled as something banged against the sliding door. Her hand quickly moved back to the console beside the door, activating the locking mechanism with a beep that seemed oddly loud.

Glen stood in front of the door in complete silence for several long moments. Just as she started to hope that whatever it was departed, it banged hard against the door. It didn't stop; again and again, it flung itself against the door, occasionally letting out another wail. Glen backed away, her eyes scanning around the room for something to use as a weapon. None of the scientific equipment seemed large or sturdy enough, but she did spot the circular end of a large spanner sticking out from the base of the pod. She pulled it out; it was about three feet long, and apparently made for the comically sized-nuts beneath each of the pods.

She jumped as a particularly hard smash left a massive dent in the door. Glen slipped behind the pod, hiding from view in hopes of gaining an element of surprise. The door took a few more hits before finally giving way with a ear-splitting shriek of mutilated meta.

For a few moments, all Glen could hear was a soft, raspy breathing. She tensed as whatever it was finally spoke.

"It's ... s-so ... cold ..."

It took a step, the creature's foot hitting the floor with a wet slap. From her crouched position, Glen could see a familiar black liquid slide across the floor. A mishappen foot hit the ground shortly afterwards, spreading more of the muck as the creature shambled into view.

Glen very nearly gasped at the sight of the thing. At first glance, it looked like some kind of avian. This was only barely evident, however, as the bird's snow-white feathers seemed to be melting, those closest to the ground almost solid black and dripping ichor. Two massive vegetables occupied the place on the bird's head, each with their own faces bearing looks of intense pain.

"Snowy ..." The creature crooned softly in its strangely harmonic collection of voices. It slowly walked forward, leaving black puddles of ichor as it walked past the pods. Glen watched in silence as it passed her when it suddenly occurred to her that whatever the creature was, it obviously couldn't see. That gave her an idea.

Glen hefted her spanner, took careful aim, and tossed it through the still-open door of the closet, where it hit the floor with a loud clatter. The creature froze for an instant before letting out the same freakish wail as before. It rushed into the closet, at which point Glen hurried over to the door control panel and sealed it shut.

"There." She said, peering through the window as the creature destroyed anything it could reach within its little cell, seemingly unaware that it was trapped.

Still, it was only a matter of time before it realized its predicament, and it certainly hadn't had much trouble with the other door. Careful to avoid the puddles of black liquid, Glen hurried out of the room.

If the secret lab seemed creepy before, it was down right terrifying now; the only remaining light flickered, offering brief glimpses of broken lighting panels and shattered consoles. Black ichor was everywhere, making it extremely difficult for the barefoot Glen to proceed. Occasionally she'd accidentally brush against it, only to recoil from the burning sensation.

It was hard going, especially considering that she was trying to keep her ears open for the creature she'd trapped. Sure, it hadn't moved quickly until she made a noise, but being stuck in a closet would likely leave it in a rage.

After what felt to her like an hour of careful maneuvering through the corridor, she entered a room she recognized; she was back in the room with the secondary elevator. The lift doors were open, the floor of the lift completely coated with ichor. They left two distinct trails; one leading back to the corridor Glen just left and the other leading to the passageway to the right of the lift.

Glen glanced at the lift with distaste; even if it was functional, she wouldn't want to stand in a pool of the ichor, not in her bare feet. There was the other elevator, of course; there were no ichor puddles down that path, strangely enough. It stood to reason she could head back up to the lab from there, but there was still the matter of the other monsters. She wanted to assume that they left the moment those things showed up, but she was far too cynical to believe it. Besides, Jake might still be down there as well, and Glen promised Finn to bring him back.

Sighing, Glen said, "Well, if I'm gonna go looking for trouble, I might as well get a move on."

She turned and found herself face-to-face with a ghost.

"Gaah!"

"Aaah!"

Both ghost and Dreamer recoiled in fear, only to give the other a puzzled look.

"Um ... hello." The ghost said.

"Hi." Glen replied, not sure what else to say.

Another long moment of silence passed before the ghost asked, "Why did you scream?"

"Ghost. You?"

"Human."

Glen paused for a long moment before saying, "Right. Fair enough. Er, I'm Glen."

"Oh. Hello, Glen. I'm sorry if I bothered you; I'll go away."

"Wait!" Glen said, "I could use your help."

"My help?"

"Yes!" Glen gestured to the lab. "What happened here?"

"Oh ... I don't know. I came here looking for my cousin, but he's not here."

"What about those things?" Glen asked. "Those ... whatever they are."

Napstablook looked uncertain. "I ... I don't know. I really think I should go."

"But ..." Glen sighed; all things considered, a ghost probably wouldn't be helpful in her current situation. "Okay, fine, but let me ask just one more thing; I came here with a robot dog, he answers to Jake; have you seen him down here?"

"Robot dog?" Napstablook appeared to think for a few moments. "I heard barking further inside, near the room with all the beds ... that's something dogs do, right?"

"It's a start." Glen said. "Thanks; you should go ahead and get to safety."

"All right." Napstablook floated away for a few moments before pausing and turning back to add, "Please be careful, Miss. You're the first living thing I've seen in the Underground for a few days now."

With that, the ghost floated up through the ceiling, leaving Glenda alone to brave the passage to the right of the elevator. She moved through the decrepit hallway slowly, hopping from clean spot to clean spot like a child engaged in a madcap game of hopscotch. By the time she reached the room with the beds, her feet were extremely sore from ichor burns.

Unfortunately, her hopes of finding a place to sit were dashed as she stared around the room. The bed frames were mangled, their mattresses torn asunder and thrown about the room. Those did not catch Glen's attention as much as the pulsating piles of ichor, sitting here and there on the floor like bloated tumors.

"This is so not good." Glen said in a low voice, backing away from the room. "Maybe I should check for Jake upstairs."

She froze as her back hit something solid where there should've been an open doorway. Dread filled her chest as she slowly reached back with a hand to feel something furry, something that burned her fingertips ever so slightly.

"Jake." She said slowly. "I really hope that's you wearing a fur coat."

The creature behind her let out an unearthly hound-like wail that made every hair on Glen's body stand on end. She didn't even bother turning to see what it was; she bolted across the room, her feet splashing in the ichor despite the burn.

Rushing down a corridor lined with pots filled with wilted flowers, Glen finally came to a halt when she realized the thing wasn't behind her. She could hear the sound of it approaching, but apparently it wasn't as fast as the vegetable-eyed bird-thing.

She caught sight of movement in the corner of her eye and quickly whirled around to find herself face to face with ... herself. Her reflection stared back at her, eyes wide in panic that quickly faded to annoyance.

"What you lookin' at?" She said, making a face at herself. Just as she started to look away, she realized the source of movement hadn't been her. Behind her, all the wilted flowers were slowly twisting their stems. They weren't wilted; their petals were black.

That was bad enough, but little faces appeared in the center of each flower, each face that much more horrifying ... possibly owing mostly to the fact that the idea of flowers with teeth just didn't sit well with Glenda.

Feeling a tug on her hand made her look down in time to realize that thick black vine-like roots were reaching for her, some already slipping around her wrist. Glen yanked her hand free with a yelp, only to hear her yelp answered by the thing chasing her, far closer than she realized.

It towered over her, filling nearly the entire corridor. There was a faint hint of a dog to the thing, completely belied by the massive hole dripping ichor where the dog's face should be. Just like with the bird-creature, its body was mostly white, but splotched with ichor.

"Good boy." Glen whispered, backing away while being careful to avoid the flowers.

Growling filled the air, but it wasn't from the hole in the dog's face. To Glen's horror, she realized it came from dog-like faces in what she'd believed were spaces between the dog's legs. They snapped and snarled at him as the huge creature hunkered down, no doubt ready to pounce.

Glen turned to run, but the creature was already in mid air. It landed squarely on her, its mass enveloping her body ... or at least, what had been her body. Her rune shining, Glenda leapt out of the mirror as her reflection, now pinned beneath the monstrocity, faded. Wasting no time, she made a run for the end of the hallway and hurried through the only doorway there.

It was only a storeroom, but Glen didn't care; once she was inside, she closed the door and used a nearby fire extinguisher to smash the controls to pieces. Feeling at least a little safer, she looked around for another way out.

"Shoulda brought the doorknob with me." She muttered, despite the fact that bringing her CPD's doorknob was what got her stuck on Tuchanka. Not for the last time, she wished she had a way to simply summon the door to where ever she happened to be.

Something brushed against the outside door. Glen waited for the inevitable thud of the massive beast against the closet door that strangely never came. The reason why became obvious a moment later, as a thick layer of black ichor slowly oozed from beneath the doorway.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" Glen clambered onto the shelves, knocking over empty flasks and test tubes. The ichor soon covered the floor, swirling around as though searching for Glen. Her imagination formed angry dog-like faces in the muck ... at least, she hoped it was her imagination.

Ashe she climbed higher, a sudden burst of cold air brushed the top of her head. She glanced in the direction of the wind and spotted the edge of an air vent behind several boxes full of notebooks. She tossed the boxes to the floor to uncover the rest of the vent. It was going to be a tight fit, but a glance at the floor made it clear she didn't have a lot of options. After disposing of the vent grille, she took a deep breath and pulled herself into the vent.

It was a tight fit, so much so that she could barely draw in breath. Turning down one of the adjoining vents was out of the question, but fortunately there was another vent straight ahead. Ignoring the ache building in her lungs for a proper breath of fresh air, Glen managed to shuffle herself forward until she reached the vent on the other side. After a few rough punches, she knocked the grille from its screws and pulled herself through the opening.

She landed on the floor in a heap, her chest heaving and quite sore from the tight fit. The loud thrum of fans filled the air, the breeze they created feeling nothing short of heavenly to Glen as she pushed herself from the ground.

"Woof!"

Glen looked up, horror shooting through her for an instant before she raised her eyes and met those of the cartoon dog face on Jake's monitor.

"Jake!" Glen said, throwing her arms around the KEI-9. "Thank the Creator, you're safe!"

He let out an affirmative yip before sitting down on his haunches. He looked up at her expectantly.

"Is anyone else down here? Besides those ... things?"

Jake let out another affirmative bark before taking off running. Still sore, Glen nevertheless pushed herself to follow Jake.

There was less ichor on the ground here, something for which Glen (and more specifically, her feet) were grateful. Jake's monitor functioned as a flashlight, illuminating the corridor, not that there was much to see; while there was less ichor, the lights and wall consoles were pretty much shot.

As they entered a large chamber with a strange device hanging device in the very center. More of the pulsing black tumors were there as well, one blocking the passage to the left.

Glenda let out a cry as something sharp cut into the sole of her foot. After reaching a wall with a few hopping steps, she managed to twist her foot around to see a shard of glass. It wasn't deep, though the wound did bleed a little.

Glen's eyes fell to the floor, only to discover quite a few shards of glass. From the shape of the pieces, it had been some kind of glass container.

A sudden growl from Jake made Glen look up. Jake was standing near the black blob blocking one of the two passages that led from the room. He backed slowly from the ichorous mass as it started pulsing faster.

"Jake." Glen said, already backing into the corridor.

The mass was growing now. There was something inside it, Glen realized, something that was trying to emerge. She watched, frozen to the spot as the ichor pulled away from the creature that lay beneath.

It was the robot; Glen could tell from the bright pink paint. Even as it stepped forward, however, it was clear that something was wrong. When Glen first encountered the robot, it showed signs of damage; now, however, it looked to be melting into the body of what Glen was sorry to recognize as the young Kid.

"Daaaarling ..." The robot said, its voice strangely distorted. "So gooood to seeeee yoooou ..."

Glen stared at the hybrid machine and monster as it approached on shapely legs. She'd encountered some seriously strange tech before: the cyborg monstrocities that were the Borg, the shrill-voiced genocidal Daleks, the corrupted core units if the Glyche Corruption, just to name a few. None of those, however, seemed so visceral, so ... organic. The metal of the robot seemed only partially solid; for the most part, it seemed as solid as normal metal. Where fused to Monster Kid, however, it seemed as pliable as putty. The whole thing was dripping with the ichor.

The composite creature took a few more steps toward Glen and Jake before coming to a halt. After a few moments, what eyes weren't horribly melted focused on Glen. It stood there, unmoving, watching Glen in silence as though expecting her to do or say something.

"I'm never one to disappoint." Glen coughed and said in a louder voice, "Where is Alphys? Where are the others?"

"Alphys ... gone. Others ... gone. Some changed ... like us."

"What happened?" Glen asked. "Did Frisk find this place?"

"Amalgates loose. Smashed container, black ooze spread. Those touched became like Amalgates ... like us. Hurts. Hard to think ... darling."

"I'm sorry." Glen said, sympathizing with the monsters' plight. "But ... what is it? What is this black stuff?"

The monster twitched twice before a twisted smile spread across its face. "Desire ... to destroy. Desire to corrupt. Desire ... to consume."

It flung an arm toward Glen, the appendage stretching unnaturally as though made of rubber. Glen didn't have time to react, but Jake did; light flared from Jake's monitor, engulfing the arm. MettaKid shrieked, its arm smoking where Jake's light touched it.

Glen didn't wait for another attack; she legged it back down the corridor, stopping only to make sure that Jake was right behind her this time. Together they rushed down the hall until they came across a door that led to the mattress room, where more of the black tumor-like masses were shifting, revealing more merged monsters. Glen didn't waste time looking for details; she ducked claws, dodged talons, crouched under massive paws and leapt over bursts of ichor before finally bolting down the corridor back to the main lift. Jake kept pace behind her, his monitor flashing occasionally at any ichorous beast that drew too near him.

The main elevator was still inactive, so Glen continued running down the corridor she'd originally taken. There was no ichor on the floor here, nor any in the secret lift. With the sounds of pursuit closing in on them, Glen hauled Jake the rest of the way into the lift and slammed her hand on the up button. For one terrifying moment, Glen was sure the lift was inoperable. Relief poured over her as the doors slid shut and the lift rumbled to life.

"Thank the Creator." She murmured as she sank to the ground beneath the control console.


	13. Chapter 12 - Metta-Crisis

**Chapter 12**

 **Metta-Crisis**

Glen sat lost in thought as she rode the lift back to the upper labs. Jake whined a few times, but Glen only patted him on the head absently in response. The words of the horrid thing that was both Mettaton and Monster Kid and yet somehow neither stuck in her ears: desire to destroy, desire to corrupt, desire to consume. Was the black substance some sort of manifestation of atrophy?

Good and Evil had little meaning to a Dreamer like Glenda; she did what she felt was right, stood against those she thought was wrong. Even with her deadliest of enemies, however, Glenda held a measure of sympathy and understanding. There was always a reason ... maybe it was a bad reason, or a reason based on faulty evidence, but she at least understood where they were coming from enough to know that they thought they were doing what was best. As such, the idea of something being purely evil seemed surreal ... and yet ...

Glen jumped as Jake let out a bark. She looked at him, not bothering to hide her irritation.

"What?" She asked.

His monitor image changed to an image of the MettaKid amalgate, followed by an image of Glen smashing one of the Illusive Man's core units in half.

"Why didn't I attack?" She asked. "Are you kidding? You saw that thing; what was I supposed to do, fight it hand-to-hand? It was practically covered in that black crap. I mean, look at my feet?"

Glen's feet were red, looking as though they were mildly sunburned. Just touching them made her wince. Oddly enough, however, there were no traces of ichor on them.

Jake barked again, his monitor this time showing an image of the Anti-ka Maru.

"This?" Glen said, raising her right hand, the rune facing Jake. "This isn't a weapon. Yeah, I know a few tricks, but I'm no Narrator Number One."

Jake's monitor tilted, his face questioning.

"Long story." Glen said, rubbing the top of Jake's monitor. In a nutshell, he's a Dreamer like me, but he's had a lot more time and training using his Dreamer abilities. I'm still getting used to mine. Hell, even he rarely used it directly."

She sighed and sat back against the lift wall. "I can twist reality enough to fiddle with doors, alter basic probabilities, occasionally pull a trick like I did with the mirror."

Jake let out a questioning grunt.

"Not important. Still, you're right; it's just ... I never had other Dreamers to train me. Everything I can do, I learned on my own through trial and error, or with Teria's help. If I had a few days, I could probably put something together that would let me summon a cricket bat or a crowbar or ... or something."

Glen looked at her hand. The power of the Anti-ka Maru was undeniable, but she still knew so little about it, about what it could do. She knew she should try to use it more often, but after so many years relying only on her expertise as a Builder or a Brawler, it was hard to get her mind around the nature of her abilities as a Dreamer. The CPD had taken years of work to get to where it was, and even then, she needed outside help and access to Gallifreyan technology.

She stretched out her hand and concentrated. She willed the universe to produce a weapon, something she could use do defend herself and Jake should she need to. After a few moments, a flash of light shot from the Anti-ka Maru, spreading quickly from her hand until it took shape.

Glenda looked at the umbrella she was now holding with mild amusement. It was orange and yellow, her least favorite colors, and the wooden handle was carved in the shape of a ... well, it was more than just vaguely phallic.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say my Dreamer abilities are taking the piss outta me." She said, shaking her head at the ugly thing.

The elevator let out a chime as it reached its destination. Glenda rose to her feet as the doors slid open to reveal the cluttered yet well-lit rooms of the upper labs. Carrying umbrella under her arm, she walked out of the lift followed shortly by Jake.

Alphys was gone; MettaKid had said as much. Given the number of the strange tumor-things, Glen was forced to accept that the monsters taking refuge in the bunker were either corrupted or simply dead. Even if this wasn't her reality, the idea of her dear friends being dead did not sit well with her.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to do, but focus on her original goal; if the ichor that corrupted the monsters did come from Frisk, Glen needed to get her as soon as possible to prevent the ichor from spreading any further.

Fortunately, Glen noticed the large security monitoring station on her earlier investigation of the lab. Sure enough, the multiple monitores were displaying different areas of the Underground as she drew near. Most of the places were unfamiliar; the sight of snow in several confused Glen to no end. Still, she could see a few monitors displaying areas of New Home as well as a few showing areas of Hotland she'd already passed.

The Main monitor, however, showed the remains of the chapel in Castle Dreemurr. The room was essentially in ruins, most of the sun-producing windows shattered and the pillars toppled. Glen started to change the monitor when she saw Sans appear on the far side of the room. He casually strolled through the wreckage, his face showing only his typical smile. As he drew near the edge of the screen, however, he stopped and looked directly at the camera.

"Hey." He said. "You up yet?"

Glen stared in disbelief until Sans said, "Red button by the keyboard."

Glen glanced at the keyboard; indeed, there was a red button. She pressed it and said, "Can you hear me?"

His smile widened. "Ah, good. You're awake."

"How in the Creator did you know I'd be awake right now?"

"I felt it in my bones. Listen, I found the kid; she's heading for the barrier. Not sure what she's planning, but I'm gonna meet up with Asgore and do what I can to stop her."

"I understand. Listen; if she starts spewing any of that black crap anywhere, steer well clear of it; that stuff's wiped out everything in the lab."

Sans's smile fell. "Alphys?"

"Gone." Glen sighed and said, "It does something to monsters; I saw a bunch of them down there. It was like they were melted together or something, and made them very aggressive. They do react strongly to bright illumination, though."

"No worries there. I've got just the thing to shed some light on any trouble that crosses my path."

"Good. I'm on my way." Glen paused a moment before adding, "Listen, Sans; stay safe, okay? If it comes to either you or whatever's corrupted Frisk, make sure that you're the one that survives."

"Even if I have to kill her?"

Glen sighed before replying, "Better you than that ... thing. I know it's a bit grim, but consider it as the kid reaping what she's sown."

Sans raised an eye-ridge at the camera. "Was that a Death pun?"

Cracking a smile, Glen said, "Yeah, I guess it was."

After a long moment of silence, Sans chuckled. "I like it. See you soon, landlady."

Glen allowed herself a smile as she released the button, the console letting out a small chime. She turned to rejoin Jake when another chime sounded. She frowned, glancing back at the console only to realize it hadn't come from the security station.

Her blood ran cold as Jake let out a long growl. She turned just in time to see a familiar pink-booted leg step out of the elevator.

"Ah, crap." Glen said, clutching her umbrella as the rest of the Amalgate appeared. Surprisingly, its form seemed more solid now; the robot parts were once again in good repair. For a few seconds, Glen thought that maybe Mettaton had somehow separated; that hope faded, however, as Mettaton turned to face him. The robot's left arm was completely engulfed in a fleshy mash covered in orange and yellow scales, a pair of frightened eyes staring out from beneath a small ridge of spikes.

"Hello, Darling." Mettaton said. "I do hope you weren't planning on leaving."

"Oh, no." Glen said as she took a step back. "I'm pretty sure I'm in this for the long haul at this point."

"Ah, good. I'm afraid you didn't catch me at my best earlier; my ... transformation wasn't quite complete at the time. Quite embarressing, but it wasn't your fault."

Glen had a hard time looking away from Mettaton's hybrid arm. Something beneath the scaley skin writhed, as though the Monster Kid was still trying to move.

Mettaton followed Glen's gaze. He stared at his mutated arm for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Oh, this? Don't worry, darling; I'm far more determined than the child. Besides, he adores me; now he gets to be one with his favorite entertainer until the end of time!"

"You said the ichor was desire." Glen said, "Dark desire."

"Oh dear; are you still going on about that? You really can't take anything I said seriously; I was still fresh from my cocoon."

"Then what is it?" Glen asked as Mettaton advanced on her. "How did it change the other monsters?"

"Oh, them? Don't worry about them, darling; they're little more than shambling beasts. As for the miraculous elixer that repaired my body and gave me this new strength, I do think this is what dear Alphys called 'determination'."

"Determination?" Glen asked. "What, like liquid determination? How the hell can you take something like that and put it into physical form?"

"Oh, you'd have to ask Alphys, darling." She said. "And I'm afraid you won't get that chance. You see, I need a human soul to breach the barrier, and with the fallen child gone, yours will have to do."

"Now wait a-" Glen threw herself aside as Mettaton brought her Monster Kid arm down, narrowly missing the Dreamer and smashing part of the security monitor.

The look of annoyance on Mettaton's face turned to one of mirth as Glen brandished her umbrella.

"Really, darling? I appreciate you're willingness to put on a good show, but the cameras aren't rolling. We might as well just avoid the flash and get straight to business."

Mettaton's foot sliced through the air, breaking the umbrella in fast with a loud crack. Most of the umbrella fell to the ground, leaving Glen holding the uniquely shaped wooden handle. She stared at it with a sigh before hurling it at the robot. The wooden handle caught the robot in the cheek; it didn't cause any physical damage, but Mettaton looked furious.

"Enough of this!" Mettaton said, eyes flashing red. "Just give up, darling, and I'll make it as quick and painless as I can."

"Yeah, 'cause that's gonna happen." Glen let out a shrill whistle and shouted, "Jake! Now!"

Mettaton turned in time to get a blast of Jake's monitor flashlight right in the face. Mettaton shrieked, black splotches of ichor appearing on his face.

"Please, please, please something good this time." Glen whispered, eyes clenched shut as she tried again to summon another weapon. Feeling something solid form in her hand, she grinned and leapt forward, swinging in a wide arc.

The whiffleball bat bounced off Mettaton's head with an audible thunk. Even Mettaton, the black splotches shrinking but still present, just stared for a few moments.

:"Goddammit." Glen said, flinging the bat away before punching Mettaton in the face. The result was typical of a fleshy object coming into violent contact with solid metal; that is to say, Glen was pretty sure she'd broken at least two of her fingers as she staggered back, clutching her aching hand.

"Get him!" Mettaton shouted. "Get them both!"

Glen started to ask who Mettaton was talking to when an all-too familiar howl made her freeze. Ichor oozed from the elevator as the dog-like amalgamate moved out of the elevator. It moved toward Glen until Jake ran into its path, barking as his monitor shone brightly.

The dog-like amalgamate let out a pain-filled chorus of howls before slamming its bulk on the dog-robot, completely engulfing it.

"Jake!" Glen shouted, moving to assist only for Mettaton to step in her way.

The robot's legs sliced through the air, several cutting Glen's shirt as she struggled to avoid the assault. Mettaton was relentless, pressing her advantage until Glen was pinned to the wall, her hands trying to hold back one of Mettaton's legs.

"Give up, darling!" Mettaton hissed between perfect teeth.

"Not gonna happen."

"You can't win!"

"That doesn't mean I don't try."

"Why bother? You have no chance!" Mettaton slammed her Kid-arm into the wall beside Glen's head. "Accept reality."

Anger flared through Glen. "I'm a Dreamer." She said between clenched teeth. "I don't accept reality! I control it, through my will! My strength! My determination! I will not die here!"

Strength surging through her arms, Glen shoved Mettaton back. She reared back for another punch when her rune suddenly flared even brighter than Jake's monitor. The light spread forward in a thousand spidery threads, engulfing both of her arms and filling her with the same strength she felt when she wore Headache, if not more.

With a roar, Glen rushed at Mettaton, the gauntlets of light slamming into the metal robot as though it were styrofoam. Now it was Mettaton who was on the defensive, desperately trying to avoid years of Glen's training as a Brawler, a Builder, and as a prospective entrant into the Longshore Melee. Any cover Mettaton tried to take was immediately smashed into scrap, any attempts to counter only hurt Mettaton.

With one wild swing, Glen smashed Mettaton's Monster-Kid arm off right below the shoulder. Mettaton grabbed for the arm with his remaining hand, but Glen got their first and held it out of reach.

Almost immediately, the arm convulsed. Glen risked a glance and saw that the arm was dissolving in her grasp, turning into ichor and ash. She caught sight of Monster Kid's eyes for one final second before they vanished. She wasn't sure, but she hoped that the Kid was grateful, finally released.

She turned her attention fully on Mettaton, only to find him dripping with ichor and falling to pieces. Separate, their bodies apparently were no longer able to maintain cohesion, and the parts the ichor replaced on Mettaton were now falling apart again. Alarmed, Glen started to release the robot, but Mettaton grabbed one of Glen's arm and wouldn't let go.

"That was a fantastic show, d-darling." Mettaton said, smiling. "Your arms are simply dazzling ... almost as much as my legs."

Glen could see it now; the ichor wasn't retreating from her light; her light was purging it.

"Glad I don't have to close the show angry." Mettaton paused and said, "I'm just sorry we didn't believe you. If we had, maybe I'd be in better shape.

"The ichor." Glen said, realizing there wasn't much time left. "What is it?"

"Alphys thought it was something like determination. She might be right, but it's not the same as the real deal." Mettaton replied as Glen lowered him to the floor and helped him sit up against the remains of the security station. "The ichor is dark with hatred, anger, ambition, and arrogance. I guess that's why it got me so quickly ... I was ... so sure that I ... would be ... the ... hero. I'm s-sorry ... I would tell you more ... but my power ... is ..."

With a final smile, Mettaton closed his eyes.

Glen felt a little sad, but only for a moment; Jake was still in trouble. Setting the remains of Mettaton on the floor, she rushed at the pulsating form of the Amalgate. It didn't move; seemingly intent on its capture of Jake.

Clenching her eyes shut, Glen rushed toward the creature with her glowing arms outstretched, and was promptly absorbed into pulsating mass. Her entire body felt like it was on fire as she moved through the creature, trying desperately to grab part of Jake so she could haul him out. Only moments after she entered, however, the entire mass shuddered like mass ot gelatin caught in an earthquake. The burning sensation slowly faded, though Glen still couldn't breath. Still empty handed and desperate for air, she tried in vain to fight her way free. Unfortunately, moving in the dog-like amalgamate was like trying to run while submerged in quicksand; the more she tried, the more it seemed to constrict around her.

Just as she started to lose consciousness, the mass of the creature pulled away. Glen collapsed to the floor, the light around her arms fading as she gasped for breath.

A sudden bark made her look up right into Jake's cheery face. He barked again happily before nuzzling her with his monitor. She hugged him close.

"Thank the Creator." She said, still out of breath. "I thought I lost you."

He barked again. This time, however, a chorus of barks replied from behind Glen. She spun about to see the dog amalgamate standing behind her; gone were the traces of the ichor, leaving only a large white mass with dog-shaped dark spots giving it the appearance of legs. Now, however, the faces in the dark spots seemed happy.

"Oh." Glen said, still a bit appehensive. "Feeling better?"

Endogeny barked, again sounding like five or six dogs barking in unison. It even wagged a massive tail-like appendage as Jake replied with a bark of his own.

"How did you survive, boy?" Glen said, rubbing the side of Endogeny and finding it surprisingly fluffy. "I'm glad I didn't have to kill you, but if I can find out the difference, maybe Frisk isn't lost."

"Determination."

Glen turned her head to see Napstablook floating her way. "I looked through Doctor Alphys's records while I was down in the lower lab. I thought I could find out where my cousin went ... I know it was rude, but ..."

"Your rudeness might help save lives, Napstablook." Glen said, giving him a kind smile. "Under the circumstances, I think it can be ovelooked."

Napstablook paused, "She found a way to extract determination from human souls, then tried to inject it into dying monsters. It brought them back to life, but ... well, they couldn't hold up on their own. It's really sad; they got all mixed together."

"Then this is basically a bunch of monsters melted together." Glen said, looking and Endogeny. "It was treated with concentrated determination, whatever the hell that is; maybe thats what stopped the ichor from taking control."

"Miss Glen?" Napstablook said, his sad eyes on Mettaton's remains. "Happs- Mettaton is my cousin. I don't know if he has determination, but ... well, Alphys's notes say he's been fused to this body, but ... is there something you can do?"

Glenda knelt by Mettaton's remains. Being technically minded, it didn't take her long to find the power core ... and to her amazement, it was still active. Glenda touched it and felt something she could only describe as life.

"A soul core." She murmured. "Just like a Glyche core unit ... but the design's inefficient. Even without our fight, it wouldn't have lasted much longer."

As if to make her point, the light shining from the heart-shaped window dimmed slightly. Whatever was in there wouldn't last long without a boost.

"Please." Napstablook said, "If you can do something ... please, don't let him die."

Glen stared at the soul core in her hand, her mind going to thoughts of Papyrus, Undyne, Toriel, and Alphys ... all gone. Maybe it was her universe, and maybe not, but the thought of them all being dead along with every other monster she'd come to know during her time at Ebott filled her with her own determination.

Her rune flared to life as she looked Napstablook in the eye and said, "Not on my watch."


	14. Chapter 13 - Deep Truths

**Chapter 13**

 **Deep Truths**

Asriel and Golemite lived in a simple apartment in Central Nowhere. It was a small place; basically a kitchen, a small eating area, and two bedrooms, but it was enough for them. The bossun and the golem's presence was evident by the decor; despite his issues with certain flowers, Asriel found he had a gift for growing them, and had potted flowers of all colors (with the exception of yellow) all over the place. Golemite, on the other hand, was a sculpter and a stoneworker, and fashioned most of the furniture he used out of lumps of stone.

Most of the furniture existed in pairs; Asriel's being cushioned and covered with images of flowers and Golemite's being carved out of stone. The only exception was their dinner table; it was made out of stone, but had a small stone stairwell on one side that led to a landing where Asriel's seat sat.

Asriel sat silently at the table, slowly eating his soup. It was quite good; aside from his habit of trying to sneak a handful of gravel into the pot, Golemite was a pretty good cook.

Golemite was busy cleaning up in the kitchen, singing as he worked. While his normal voice was deep and gravelly, he surprised Asriel after their inital meeting by proving himself quite the tenor.

Asriel listened to his roommate sing absently, his own mind currently dwelling on the information Mayor Mayor gave him. It was a lot to take in, and not all of it was pleasant.

It just goes to show how distracted Asriel was currently when he didn't notice that his friend stopped singing. He jumped as Golemite pulled his heavy stone chair out from under the table and sat down beside him.

"All right, Azzie." Golemite said, putting his hand on the young Dreemurr's shoulder. "Talk."

"W-what?"

"You've been quiet eva since you got back from dat meetin' with Mayor Mayor. What's da deal?"

Asriel sighed and pushed his bowl away. "Golemite ... do you know about the Everstar?"

Golemite let out a hearty laugh. "O'course I know 'bout da Everstar! Everyone knows about da Everstar! It's what made tha Deep!"

"Seven shards filled with the essence of dreams." Asriel said, looking down at the table. "When brought together, they have the power to grant someone's desire. Mayor Mayor wanted a safe place to live, where humans couldn't follow even if the barrier fell."

"Kinda amazin'." Golemite said. "I mean an itty-bitty star makin' a place as big as da Deep. I tell ya, if I even managed to get my mitts on dat thing ..."

Asriel remained silent as he pulled his shirt down enough to reveal the glowing star on his chest.

Golemite stared in shock. His mug fell from his hand, breaking on the floor and spilling molten silver everywhere.

"You ... you had a shard?" He said, his head moving closer to get a better look. "All dis time? An' you neveh said nuthin'?"

"The skeleton ... the one I lost when I first met you ... he told me people would be after it. He told me to keep it secret or I'd end up ..."

After a few moments of silence, Golemite asked, "End up what?"

"End up as a flower." Asriel finished, shuddering slightly at the thought of his previous form. He still had nightmares on occasion about not being able to feel his arms or legs. "I ... I died, Golemite. I was killed years ago, but I was brought back by accident without a soul, stuck in the form of a flower. I couldn't feel, I couldn't care, I couldn't even die because my determination would just bring me back. I ended up hurting a lot of people trying to get a soul, but when I did, a friend helped me realize I was taking those things from everyone I hurt. It was hard, but I gave up all the souls I'd taken ... even though that meant I'd just be a flower again."

He looked up at Golemite. "But it didn't happen; the shard of the Everstar found me. Even just a shard of it's strong enough to act as my soul."

"Your soul is a piece of the Everstar." Golemite repeated, sounding dazed. "And if someone takes it, you go back to being a flower."

"I can't." Asriel said, tears coming to his eyes. "I can't go back to that. I hurt so many people, Golemite, and if it hadn't been for Frisk, I ... I ..."

Golemite quickly rose to his feet and approached his little friend to give him a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Hey; it's all right, kid. Anyone tries to take your shard, they're gonna have to go through me. As long as we both keep our mouths shut about it, no one eveh has to know, right?"

Asriel smiled as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "R-right."

Golemite beamed at him before heading back to the kitchen, his massive stone feet pulverizing the remains of his mug. As he poured himself another mug of molten silver, he said, "So that's what da Mayor wanted to talk about, huh?"

Asriel opened his mouth to reply, when the kitchen wall seemed to explode, sending Golemite flying over the table and into a makeshift trellis bearing a blue flowering ivy. The trellis snapped like a bunch of twigs and landed on the fallen golem's back as he hit the floor and lay still.

"Golemite!" Asriel shouted, moving to help his friend.

"Don't move!" Said a strangely hissy voice. Asriel turned to the destroyed wall to see a green monster with five red eyes and a set of pincers for a mouth. It walked toward him, each of its four arms bearing a blade. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"Don't play sssstupid!" The insect-man hissed. "Where is the sssshard? I know you have it!"

Asriel resisted the urge to clutch his chest. "Who are you?"

"Ssssaymor Draxsss." The insect said, still moving closer. "I've been sssssearching for you for a long time, Asssssriel."

Asriel felt his blood run cold. "How do you know me?"

"Assssgore." Saymor hissed. "I remember seeing you when I worked for him as an assssssassin."

"My dad would never-"

"Ssstop being ssssimple!" Saymor snapped. "I sssaw you ssssneaking into the chamber where he hid the ssssouls. Did you think they just appeared from nowhere? Did you think that ssssoft-hearted father of yoursss had the gutsss to kill the humans himssself?"

Saymor lunged at Asriel, who was only just able to throw himself out of the way in time. Asriel quickly rose to his feet. He had a few tools on his tool belt that could be used as weapons, but it was on the other side of the room, behind Saymor.

"Don't make this difficult!" Saymor said, his five eyes red with anger as he pulled his swords out of the wall. "Just give me the sssshard and I'll end it quick."'

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

Saymor let out an angry screech before leaping at Asriel again. Asriel ducked and crawled under the table, his paw slipping momentarily on the smooth surface of the pool of cooled silver. He rose, hands already grasping for his belt. He fumbled at the belt as Saymor stomped around the table, dropping one of the swords to reach for him.

Asriel spun about, his hammer hitting Saymor's insect-like mandible with enough force to crack the exoskeleton. As Saymor shrieked in pain, Asriel picked up the fallen sword and quickly darted away as Saymor's other blades stabbed into the ground.

"I will make you sssuffer!" Saymor said, dropping another blade to clutch his injured appendage.

He may have been injured, but he still had two swords left as he approached Asriel. Asriel started to raise his sword when he realized he could feel the Everstar pulsing in his chest. For some reason, this filled him with courage he didn't realize he had.

He ducked and rolled under the twin blades, grabbing the other fallen sword as he passed. Memories of the time he'd held the six souls filled his mind as he held both of the blades in his hands. They were too large for him, but with another roll he was beside Golemite's fallen form. Asriel slid the blades beneath his massive bulk and yanked upwards with all his might; the crystal swords snapped in half, leaving him with two blades little more than a foot long.

He spun about, raising his twin daggers to block the sword slashes he knew were already heading toward him. There was a look of uncertainty in Saymor's eyes now as Asriel met his gaze, determination flooding through him.

"Leave." Asriel said, his voice quiet. "Don't come back."

"Not without the Everssstar sssshard!" Saymor hissed. He swung at Asriel, but the young Dreemurr was faster. He slipped behind Saymor and used both blades to slice off one of the sword-bearing arms.

Saymor screamed, green ooze already pouring from the shattered exoskeleton. He swung wildly now, but Asriel was focused; With another roll, he was behind the creature again, using one knife as a brace as the other cut through the last sword-bearing arm.

There was definite fear in Saymor's eyes now as he backed away from Asriel, his last remaining uninjured arm raised as though to stop the bossun child's approach. "P-pleassse! Mercssssy! I beg for mercy, Prince Dreemurr!"

Asriel slowly approached, driving the insect man back until he hit the wall beside Golemite.

"Pleasssse! Pleassse!" The assassin whispered as Asriel raised his makeshift swords.

Asriel stared at the bug-man, uncertain as to what he should do. It was then he heard a voice that sent chills running through him.

"What are you waiting for? Kill him! Take his shard! In this world, it's kill or be killed!" Said a yellow flower sprouting from the dirt from pots broken from the fight thus far.

"N-no." Asriel said, shaking his head at the yellow flower. "You can't be here."

"Of course I can, silly! You're good friend Flowey is always here to help!" The flower gave him a wink even as the bug-man looked uncertainly from Asriel to the flower.

"Who ... who are you talking to?" Saymor asked, voice quavering.

"The yellow flower!" Asriel said, "It's right there."

Flowey laughed as the bug man continued to look at the dirt as though seeing nothing. "Oh, you silly billy! He can't see me! After all, I'm not a part of him ... I'm a part of you!"

"No." Asriel said, "You're wrong."

"What, did you think that all the bad things you did would just disappear? That you could just walk away from it all, just because Frisk forgave you?" Flowey let out a cruel laugh. "I realize coming from me this is strange, but you really are an idiot. Now kill the bug!"

"No."

"Kill him! Kill him now!"

"No!"

"Kill him!" Flowey screamed, his face horribly distorted.

"No!" Asriel screamed, clenching his eyes shut. Instantly, he was tackled to the floor, the blades knocked from his hands. He opened his eyes to see Saymor standing over him, one of the unbroken swords pointed straight at Asriel's chest, where the Everstar shard was now glowing so brightly that it shone through his shirt. There was no sign of Flowey in the spilled dirt.

"There it is!" He hissed. "The Everstar! I'll I have to do is cut it from your body!"

Asriel clenched his eyes shut again, bracing himself for the pain, when a calm familiar voice said, "Why take one when you can have two?"

The shadow child stood in the kitchen, a black shape with two bright eyes that shone across the room.

Saymor let out a low hiss. "Who are you?"

"A friend of Asriel." She said, taking a step forward. "And I have something you want."

Another light burst from the center of her chest. Asriel felt his shard surge at the presence of another, so close to him.

Saymor dropped Asriel to the ground and approached the shadow child. "Two sssshards in one day! I can't believe how lucky I am!"

He reached for the glowing star, only for the shadow child to step away.

"Don't you want to know who I am?" She asked.

"I don't care!" Saymor lunged at her, only for the shadow child to appear in a different section of the room.

Asriel quickly backed away from the two as this continued, until finally in frustration, Saymore scooped Asriel up with his injured limb and held the blade to the Bossun's chest.

"You are playing with me!" He declared, mandibles practically frothing. "I will have the shards! I will have both of them!"

"And I will give you mine if you simply ask me who I am."

"Fine! Who are you?"

"I'm the distraction."

"Distraction?" Saymor's eyes widened at the sound of stone moving on stone. He turned in time for a massive stone hand to grab his arm, sword and all, and yank it from Saymor's body. Asriel slipped out of Saymor's grasp as the insect man screamed in pain, five eyes filled with fear.

"Wait! Wait!" He shrieked, but Golemite's eyes were blazing with fury. He slammed two closed fists on the insect's body, completely flattening him in one blow and splashing green goo everywhere. As he raised his hands, only a small pile of ash remained.

"Golemite!" Asriel ran to the golem and put his arms around his friend's chest as much as he could manage. Golemite's massive arms wrapped around him protectively, making him feel safer than he had in a long time.

When they finally separated, Asriel asked, "Are you okay?"

"I've got a hell of a headache." Golemite said, rubbing his head. "You?"

"I'm okay." Asriel said, hugging Golemite's massive arm. "Thanks to you and-"

He turned to thank the shadow child, but she was gone.

"Golemite," Asriel said, looking up at the stone giant's face. "Did you see her?"

"Can't see much of anything to be honest; too blurry." Golemite said, wobbling unsteadily as he moved to his chair. "Jus' ... let me rest my head for few, okay?"

His head hit the table with a loud crash. After a few moments, he mumbled, "Tell Jenny I wanna Lodestone Pie, no ammonites this time. Ammonites mean it's gone stale ..."

"Golemite!" Asriel cried, shaking his friend's shoulder. He looked at his friend, worried for the worst until Golemite let out a great snore.

Sighing in relief, Asriel patted his friend on the back. "Thank you, Golemite. I owe you, big time."

He glanced at where the mysterious shadow girl previously stood. She was gone, but he found he wasn't surprised.

"... and you too, shadow girl." He whispered.

A glimmer of light caught Asriel's eye; something in the pile of ash was shining. He knelt down beside the remains of the assassin. Sifting through the remains of another monster was a little disconcerting, but he nevertheless felt his way through the pile until he felt something warm. No sooner than he wrapped his hand around the object, he it pulse. It wasn't just the object, though; beneath his shirt, his Everstar pulsed as well, in perfect time with the object.

Asriel slowly opened his hand, revealing a small tear-shaped object that shone brightly for a few moments before rising into the air and flying straight toward Asriel's chest. He gasped as the energy of the second shard filled him with warmth and power.

He sat back, gasping for breath. A glance at the Everstar on his chest found it now glowing especially brightly in the very center, making the five points seem dark. What was more, he could feel the others, their presence pulling him slightly in their respective directions.

With that realization came other knowledge, however; just as he could sense them, so too could those who carried the other shards sense him. They could sense him even more strongly now, as he bore two shards of the Everstar. Not everyone with a shard was out to kill him; the shadow girl made that clear to him. Still, those like Saymor would no doubt already be on the way, ready to claim the shards for themselves no matter the cost."

Asriel watched Golemite for a few moments. The big lug seemed no worse for wear. Their kitchen was pretty much in shambles, though; fortunately, the apartment across from ours was empty at the moment.

He had to make a choice; stay in Nowhere and prepare to defend himself, or go out into the Deep and find the other shards. Part of him thought he should just pack up and leave, but if he learned anything from his ordeal in the Underground, it was that he should make such big decisions without talking to his friends. They deserved that much, especially Golemite.

With a sigh, Asriel went to find the broom; it would be hours until Golemite woke up, and he might as well stay busy until then.


	15. Chapter 14 - Family Squabbles

**Chapter 14**

 **Family Squabbles**

Frisk ran through the halls of Dreemurr Castle. If the kid was heading somewhere, Sans certainly couldn't see it. He followed behind her, careful to remain almost but not quite out of sight. Glen's warning had not fallen on deaf ears.

"Well, let's be honest. It didn't fall on ears at all." He said, grinning to himself. Still, he was heeding her advice.

Still, the knowledge that Alphys and the others were gone hit him hard. He'd given her the ichor sample, after all, and if she or someone else was accidentally exposed, he felt at least partially responsible. At least, he told him self he should feel that way. So why didn't he feel worse about it? Was he just used to losing loved ones at this point, or was something wrong with him?

He shook his skull. There was no time for introspective nonsense, not at the moment. Although she was moving indirectly, the kid was heading towards King Asgore's throne room, and Sans had already made up his mind to have one last word before the kid reached the king.

"Hey." Sans called out.

To her credit, Frisk didn't turn around; she simply ran all the faster.

Chuckling, Sans shifted right in front of her, blocking the passage.

"Easy there." Sans said, catching her and holding her in place with a gesture of his hand. "No reason to be in a hurry; we got all the time in the world."

"Let me go!" The kid shouted, struggling in vain to free herself from Sans's magic.

"Y'know, kid, I think I've heard enough from you already. I wanna talk to Frisk."

"What are you talking about?" Frisk said, "I am Frisk."

"No, you're not." Sans walked around Frisk slowly, taking his time with each and every step. "Y'see, your pal Glen hasn't figured it out yet; what that black stuff you dribbled on her actually is. Me, I had to wonder; if you had something like that, why haven't you tried before now? I mean, we've run through this timeline over and over again, but this is the first where I've even seen the stuff."

He stepped within inches of the kid's face. "You could do it right now. One little loogie, and I wouldn't be a problem anymore, would I?"

Frisk's face was twisted into a look of fear and anger.

"But you can't, can you? You can't control it; the only reason you started dripping is because of Glen; something about her forced it out of you. That's why it only burned her; it wasn't really her burning, but the stuff burning at her touch."

Frisk still refused to respond. She didn't have to; the look on her face said it all.

"Alphys said it was like determination, but I think she was wrong; I think it is determination. It's what happens to determination without a soul of its own. See, I think ya need both; without one, the other isn't complete. That's why your determination corrupts; even one soul isn't enough; it wants as many as it can get."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Frisk said, but there was a tremor in her voice.

Sans made a bone appear with a flick of his finger and motioned it forward until it grazed the tip of Frisk's nose. "I want to talk with Frisk; the real Frisk, not whatever you are. If there's anything left, that is ... if not, well ..." He shrugged. "No skin off my bones."

Frisk glared angrily at Sans for a few moments before bowing her head. After a few moments of silence, she looked up again, tears streaking down her closed eyes.

Sans hesitated a moment; it could be a trick, after all. "You're Frisk?"

After a moment of silence, he realized she was trying to nod. "You can't talk?"

"I ... I can." She said, her voice surprisingly timid. "Sans ... I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" He repeated. "You don't have to be sorry, kid; you're possessed."

"You don't understand." She said, shaking her head. "I'd saved everyone, Sans; we lived on the surface, you, Pappy, Toriel, and me. Everything was fine for awhile. We were happy, but ... but I got bored."

Sans closed his eyes and ran his fingers over the smooth dome of his skull, Glenda's words of an Ebott past the barrier passing through his mind. It was there; not Glenda, but the others; Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, Frisk and Toriel ... Toriel, the bossun woman with whom he traded so many jokes through the door at the ruins. He could almost see her beautiful face, and the thought of it all being gone made his soul ache. He wanted to be angry, but he could tell Frisk wasn't putting on an act; the tears were real.

"I don't get it." He said, more frustrated than angry. "Okay, you threw away everything just to see what would happen if you killed everyone. I ain't gonna pretend that's not messed up, but if you wanted to stop, why not stop? Why not reset and-"

"I wanted to." She said. "I really really wanted to, Sans, believe me ... but she won't let me. Not anymore."

"She?"

"She came to me in Ebott." Frisk said, her eyes growing dark. "She knew I was bored, and she convinced me to go back, to explore the possibilities. It was so fun at first; seeing how things changed based on what I did and said. Trying out new routes, times where I let Papyrus catch me, only to run away, or essentially using what I knew to mess with people. And then ... she convinced me to attack. To fight instead of showing mercy. She promised it would be a real challenge, so eventually I gave in."

She shuddered as she continued, "It was just a few monsters at first, small monsters like froggits or whimsuns. I couldn't bear to hurt mom or pap, but she just kept goading me, pushing me, telling me that it was all just a game, that we could reset any time and bring everyone back. That's when ... when I killed ..."

She clenched her eyes shut. "Pap didn't stop believing in me, not even when he was just a skull and ... and I stomped him to dust. I should've know something was wrong, but I felt like I wasn't completely in control anymore. I killed everyone, every last monster ... and then it was you and me in the chapel and ..."

"Yeah?" Sans asked, intruiged even though he'd lived through it so many times.

Frisk's eyes shone with admiration. "You were awesome, Sans! You wiped the floor with me! If I'd been anyone else, I'd never have gotten past you!"

Her face fell. "You were the hero I should have been, but I could just restart over and over again, learning your moves, your reactions until I could get through it all and kill you. When I did, I felt sick. I almost reset right then. I wish I had reset right then."

She let out a sigh. "But I was so close. I had to see the end. I told myself that when it was done, I'd just restart, save the Underground, and that would be it; I didn't want any more resets; I just wanted to finish and go home."

"And?" He asked, his tone soft. "What happened when it was over? When you killed everyone?"

Frisk hung her head as though in shame. Sans took a step toward her, still ready to strike if necessary.

"Frisk,"' He said, "What happened when you killed Asgore?"

When Frisk raised her head, Sans automatically took a step back. The child's eyes were open wide and blood red, her mouth twisted into a wide, creepy smile. "She gave me her soul, so I could do it all again and again ... murdering all of your friends, your would-be wife, and of course your dear trusting brother. It was so much fun!"

Sans narrowed his eye-sockets at her. "Who are you really?"

"My name is Chara." She said.

"Chara?" The voice came from the throne room. Sans kept an eye-socket on Frisk as Asgore swept from the room, his cloak falling around him.

He approached the child slowly, his eyes full of sadness. "Chara, my poor child. This was your doing?"

Frisk looked ashamed. "Don't look at me."

"We took you in as our own, loved you as though you were Asriel's natural sister. Did we do something wrong?"

"You liar!" Frisk shouted. "You never cared about me! I was just a token human you could show off to give the rest of these freaks hope about being stuck down here."

Asgore simply watched her, his face so sad that it brought a tear to even the skeleton's eye. "We wanted you to be happy here, with us, here in the Underground. Perhaps that is where we made the mistake; perhaps you'll never be happy as long as you're here."

After a few long moments of silence, Asgore sighed and said, "Put her down."

"King Asgore." Sans said, stunned. "But she's possessing-"

"She is my daughter. She is my responsibility. Let her go."

The authority in his voice was unquestionable. Even though every bone of Sans's body screamed that it was a mistake, Sans released the child from his magic.

"Come, my child." Asgore said, gesturing to the entrance to the throne room.

Frisk looked from Sans to Asgore uncertainly.

"He will not interfere." Asgore said, giving Sans a warning look. "He will remain outside."

"Like hell I will." Sans said.

"I AM STILL YOUR KING!" Asgore roared, startling Sans enough to make the skeleton take another step back. The bossun king quickly composed himself and continued, "I will take care of this. I promise."

With a final angry glare at Frisk, Sans turned away and said, "Fine. Go ahead. I guess I'll go and see if she's left anyone alive this time.'

Sans remained with his back turned to Asgore and Frisk until the throne room doors closed. Asgore was dead; there was no question of it. Asgore was an able fighter, but against a child he viewed as a daughter? She'd bring him down before he had a chance to defend himself.

Glen said she was on the way. If Sans was right, all it would take was for Glen to grab the kid and hold her until whatever strange power Glen had drove Chara's determination right out of Frisk's body. After that ... well, after that, Sans didn't know. Whatever prevented Chara from resetting would likely stop Frisk as well. Still, if it was Glenda, as Chara suspected, the mysterious human seemed nothing if not willing to help. Perhaps she could reset the timeline, maybe even provide insurance that things went well; Frisk seemed genuinely repentant, but if something went wrong, having someone like Glen to keep an eye on things seemed like the best kind of insurance.

That couldn't happen if the kid escaped to the surface after absorbing Asgore's soul. Sans couldn't wait for Glen; he had to get in there and keep King Asgore safe. The doors were closed, but that meant nothing to Sans; he had doors of his own.

The world shifted in his view as he vanished from the hallway only to appear in a cramped space partially covered by cloth. He was behind the queen's old throne, now pushed against the back wall of the throne room.

He carefully peeked out from behind the cloth-covered throne to see Asgore and Frisk standing in the middle of the garden.

"They're quite beautiful, aren't they?" Asgore said quietly. "Your brother brought them here before he died. Seeds caught in his fur; I cultivated them here. It ... it seemed appropriate."

Frisk didn't respond. She just stared at Asgore with her red eyes.

"Do you know what happened to your brother?" Asgore asked. "After you passed, he-"

"He died." Frisk said shortly. "Then your Royal Scientist brought him back as a traitorous flower who I will personally pluck the next time he shows his repugnant little face!"

Asgore sighed. "Is there any kindness left in you, Chara? For me? Your brother? Your mother?"

Frisk stared at him for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Yes, my dear mother. She's dead, you know."

"Yes." Asgore said, hanging his head. "I imagine she posed little threat to you."

"Nope." Frisk pulled the knife from her belt. "Even after I killed everything else in the ruins, she still didn't put up a fight. None of you did, least of all you."

"Oh?"

"I've been back here hundreds of times." Frisk said, testing the edge of the knife. "And you know something? I've never killed you, not once. Your precious son took care of that ... didn't you, Flowey?"

There was no response. Flowey, whoever he was, was evidently not there.

"Hmm. Well, it doesn't matter." Frisk said with a shrug. "I'll just have to do it myself. I may not be able to reset the timeline anymore, but I will escape from this place."

"My child." Asgore said, "Please reconsider ... not for my sake, but for yours."

Frisk laughed; it was a long, ugly laugh that left Sans feeling uneasy. "It's already over, your majesty."

"No!" A yellow flower burst from the ground between them. It shot two long stems forward, wrapping around Frisk's hand.

"Let go, Flowey!" Frisk said, trying to pull away.

"I won't!" Flowey said, struggling to hold his grip.

"Really? What happened to this being a wonderful idea?"

"I was wrong!" Flowey said.

Frisk tore her hands free, ripping the stems from the talking flower. "You knew what would happen if you got in my way!"

Before anyone could react, she slashed at the flower, severing it from its roots with a single swing.

The flower writhed on the ground between King Asgore and Frisk, flailing its remaining petals around for a few moments before falling still.

"D-dad ..." Flowey whispered before falling to dust.

Asgore hung his head. Even from his position, Sans could see tears in the bossun's eyes.

"No more distractions!" Frisk snarled, throwing the kitchen knife with pinpoint accuracy. It flew toward Asgore's chest far too fast for him to react.

*tink*

A blue field burst to life around Asgore. The knife bounced off the field as though it were solid rock. Frisk looked on with shock as the knife fell to the floor with a clatter, as did Sans; he didn't detect any magic, so what the heck made the force field?

"It's still not too late." Asgore said, recovering from the shock of his own near-assassination. "Please, Chara, just end this."

Sans couldn't believe the compassion Asgore was showing. Even after knowing that Frisk killed his ex-wife, even after witnessing her kill his son, he still wanted to give her a chance.

Unfortunately, his plea for peace fell on deaf ears. Her face a mask of rage, Frisk rushed at Asgore, sweeping the fallen kitchen knife from the ground and bringing it around to stab Asgore in the chest.

Sans tensed, ready to shove her back with telekinesis before she could injure Asgore, but it wasn't necessary. Just as she drew near, Asgore swept his coat aside and caught the hand holding the knife with a single metal hand. Both of the bossun king's arms were covered with a pair of strange gauntlets, the word 'Headache' etched on the sides.

"No." Asgore said, "You've killed enough for today, I think."

The next few seconds happened so fast that even Sans couldn't process it all for a few moments. The child stabbed with her other hand, this one holding the toy knife. Asgore brought up his other arm, the outer casing separating to reveal some kind of emitter that flared to life, again producing the blue protective field. The force of her blocked stab was enough to jar the weapon from her hands. Before she could react, Asgore lifted Frisk by her arm and flung her across the room with deadly force, the gauntlets obviously augmenting his already impressive strength. Her body hit the far wall with a crunch that made Sans's bones hurt. She collapsed to the floor, ichor streaming from places where broken bones protruded through her skin.

She gasped for breath as Asgore slowly approached, her eyes eventually rolling up in their sockets as she lost consciousness.

Sans could only watch in shock as the life left the child. The LOVE she'd accumulated should've made her the stronger, but the strange gauntlets overpowered them, as though filled with their own determination. Sans felt a momentary pang of sadness for Frisk; whatever she may have done, she was genuinely sorry in the end. Now she was gone, and with her the possibility of bringing back those that were lost.

A glowing red heart-shaped light rose from Frisk's dead body, spinning ever so slightly.

"The seventh soul." Asgore said. "Freedom for our people. If I'd known the price, I'd never have started down this path."

Shaking his head, the King of the Monsters reached forward to take the soul for his own.

Something was nagging at Sans, something important. He couldn't quite figure out what it was until he caught a glimpse of black swirling within the red light of Frisk's soul. Dead or not, Chara was in full possession of Frisk's soul when they died. If she was the source of the ichor ...

"Your Majesty!" He said, quickly rising from his hiding place, but it was too late.


	16. Chapter 15 - Defiance

**Chapter 15**

 **Defiance**

Glen ran through the chapel, Jake close on her heels. On her arms she wore a very crude UBT built out of spare parts around Alphys's lab. It lacked many of the key functions of her personal unit, but it did have a mild strength enhancer, a radio transceiver, a flare launcher, and crude but functional hands for more precision work.

"Okay," She admitted, "That took longer than I thought."

Jake barked.

"Hey, better safe than sorry." Glen said. "Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. I just hope we can get to Sans before-"

Her words were cut short by a massive earthquake. Behind them, the ceiling collapsed on the remains of the cathedral, quickly filling the corridors with dust and pulverized stone.

Glen quickly covered her mouth with the front of her shirt before she could breath too much of the cloud. It settled quickly, leaving only a slight haze that seemed to amplify the light of Jake's monitor.

"I'm gonna guess this means we didn't make it in time." Glen said before letting out a string of coughs.

Jake bumped her leg, his face concerned. Glen waved him off. "I'm fine. C'mon! We gotta move!"

They continued racing through the hallways, spurred on by the knowledge that whatever was happening was not only bad, but Sans was likely stuck in the middle of it.

Glen's fears were confirmed when he saw the throne room doors. They looked the same as they did when she last saw them, only now they were embedded in the wall opposite of the door frame they previously occupied. The Throne Room beyond was in shambles, the sun window shattered, the throne crushed, and the flowers trampled.

Frisk's body lay in a pool of her blood, looking like a doll discarded after being broken. Glen knelt beside her and felt her neck for a pulse. Looking up at Jake, she shook her head. She took her dimensional analyzer and clamped it on her hand.

"No lifestream." Glen said with a sigh. "No signal. I was afraid of that."

Sighing, she carefully moved the little girl so she was lying more or less flat, her arms across her chest. Whether it was her Frisk or not, seeing the little girl dead hit Glen hard.

"I'm sorry." Glen said, smoothing her hair. "I'm so sorry."

A groan from across the room drew her attention from the fallen child. It seemed to be coming from beneath the remains of the second throne, a pair of slipper-covered feet cluing Glen in to just who it was.

"Sans!" She said, rushing over to the fallen skeleton and pulling the sheet away from him. The throne apparently shielded him from the brunt of the damage, though he did have a nasty-looking crack in the back of his skull.

"Easy." Glenda said, helping Sans sit up. "You took a nasty hit. Hang on a sec."

She put her rune hand on Sans's head. He flinched at her touch, but held still. Glen focused her thoughts on mending the cracked bone, her rune glowing as she channeled the energy of dreams. When she finally pulled her hand away, the crack was gone.

"How's it feel?" She asked.

"Better." he admitted, rubbing the healed spot. "I didn't realize humans had magic too."

"Probably not the best time for that discussion." She said, flashing him a quick smile. "What happened here?"

Sans bowed his head. "Asgore absorbed the kid's soul."

"I don't ..." Glen stopped and looked back at Frisk's body. "The ichor."

Sans nodded. "He absorbed it. I don't know if he even noticed."

"Well, where did he go?"

"Where do you think?" Sans jerked a thumb at the massive hole in the back of the throne room through which the remains of the doorway leading to the surface was faintly visible.

"Okay." Glen said, rubbing her forehead. During her time in Ebott, she'd seen a few instances where a monster accidentally absorbed a dead human's soul, typically after an accident. It was always a frightening occurrence, more so for the monsters suddenly transformed. "Soul-merged bossun. It's all right; we can handle this ... why are you shaking your head?"

"He absorbed all of them. Frisk's soul and the other six he already had. He used the souls to smash through the barrier ... that's what caused the explosion."

"Seven souls." When Sans nodded, she sighed and said, "Asgore's absorbed seven souls, one of which was corrupted by the same force that was possessing the kid. Anything else?"

"Well, he had these weird gauntlets. I think I saw the word 'Headache'-"

"That's quite enough."

Sans watched her in silence as she contemplated her place in the universe ... again. Dalek fleets, star-eating Reaper ships, cheese-loving demons, and Glyche Corruptions ... just once, she wanted to go somewhere and find out there was an infestation of cute bunny rabbits who all just needed a good cuddle.

Sighing, she said. "Right. Okay, first thing's first; I know Asgore couldn't get his giant feet into my tek-boots, so they must be ... ah, there they are."

Glen quickly retrieved the tek-boots from where she'd left them (albeit under a bit of rubble), as well as her impulse harness and control visor. She winced as her still tender feet slid into the cushioned footwear, and slipped the harness around her body. Her makeshift UBTs didn't have ports, but she was able to link up the rest of her gear and bring up their status on her visor.

"That stuff still works?" Sans asked.

"It should. Gineros gear is made to last." She shook her head and said, "Ugh. Remind me to punch someone from Gineracorp's marketing devision when I get back."

Feeling a little more secure now that she had most of her gear, she turned to Sans. "All right. Let's go stop Asgore before he gives humanity a really bad time."

"Just us?" Sans asked as she headed for the opening in the back of the throne room. "You and me versus him? Seven souls, Glen; that much power's gonna make him practically god-like. Literally god-like."

"Yeah? Well, I never much liked gods. Uppity bastards, always wanting praise for the Creator's work. Let's go bust him down a few pegs."

"Glen, stop."

Glen stopped and turned to once again face Sans. His skull was somber as he said, "Asgore and I are the only monsters left. With Frisk gone, I don't know if we can reset the timeline."

"Reset the wazzit?"

"The ..." Sighing, Sans said, "Long story. Thing is, Asgore and I may be the only monsters left. I don't know if I can fight him knowing that."

"I understand, Sans, I really do. The thing is, there's a town out there full of humans who have no idea what's about to fall down on them, if it hasn't already. Maybe they're sinners, maybe they're saints; either way, I can't just let them get slaughtered. I gotta try to save them. It's just what I do."

"And if they were monsters?"

The insinuation annoyed Glen. "I don't care if they're sentient pineapples, Sans; I'm gonna do what I can to protect them. I'm sorry about what happened to the monsters of the Underground, but the wholesale slaughter of Ebott isn't going to bring them back. You know I'm right.."

Sans still didn't seem convinced. Glen let out another sigh and said, "Look, if you can't help, that's fine ... but it there's anything of the Sans I know in you, you'll help. Either way, I'm going."

Glen didn't wait for a response; she hurried out of the throne room. It didn't take much investigating to follow Asgore; the path of destruction extended to the corridor previously blocked by the barrier. Glen followed the trail down the passage and out of the Underground.

The passage opened onto a wide cliff-face. There was no park here, however; just stone and a few tufts of weeds. It was night, though the first vestiges of dawn were faintly visible on the horizon.

Even stranger was the sight of Ebott; gone was the comfy town she spent over a hundred years of her life. Gone were the vast orchards, the stone wall, and the homes she built. In their place was a gleaming metal city, fully illuminated in the darkness of night. Flying cars zoomed through the streets, and a small space transport vessel was just beginning its descent into a spaceport on the edge of the city.

"Well, I guess that answers that question." She said, eyeing the emblem of the Systems Alliance painted on the side of the transport. "Okay, but where is Asgore?"

"I'm right here."

Glen turned in time to get hit by a blast of fire. Her clothes were naturally flame retardant, a simple safety measure for any builder in the Ranger's Collective, and thanks to her gear absorbing most of the magical energy, Glen's burns were merely superficial; they'd heal in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, the force of the blast was enough to knock her off the edge of the cliff.

She fell for a good ten seconds before the urgency of the fast-approaching ground broke through her shock. Using her tek-boots to blast her toward the cliff side, she dug her makeshift UBTs into the solid rock, slowing and eventually halting her fall. She started to climb up when she caught a glimmer of fire in the reflection of her impulse visor.

A sane person would've tried to get out of the way. A sane person would've simply released her grip or thrown herself aside, or perhaps quickly clamber up or down to avoid the oncoming fireball. While those who met the wild Dreamer would attest to her many outstanding attributes, few would claim sanity under pressure to be one of them.

Glen kicked off of the cliff face, her tek-boots flaring as she spun about and shot straight at the massive horned figure flying in the air. Glen could tell it was Asgore, but only just; his once shining armor was now as black as polished ebony, his white fur now all but completely black, and his once blue-eyes now as red as blood. More frightening to Glen, however, were the imposing forms of the twin Headache units. The units were designed to adjust to different users, and Asgore's imposing musculature pushed them to their limit. Nonetheless, there they were, the tools that built and destroyed a dozen dreadnaughts, armed and active on the bossun who was now trying to kill her.

Glen hit the massive bossun right in his chest plate, her tek-boots magnetizing to the armor at her will. Eye-to-eye with Asgore, she grinned and said, "What's up, big guy?"

Asgore let out a roar, a wave of energy pulsing from his body with enough force to knock Glen from him even with her tek-boots. Unable to reposition herself, Glen was sure she was dead ... at least, until she crashed into the upper branches of a pine tree moments later.

She hung upside down for a few moments before the urgency of the situation reasserted itself by means of the burst of fire that hit the top of the pine tree, setting it ablaze.

Glen quickly climbed down, doing her best to keep as many of the larger branches between her and Asgore.

"Hey, what gives, Asgore?" Glen said, ignoring the host of scratches and scrapes she was accumulating from the rough bark of the pine. "I thought we were pals. I let you borrow Headache and everything."

Glen didn't expect him to respond; for all she knew, the same force that possessed Frisk was in Asgore. To her surprise, however, she heard him say, "The souls don't just give me power; they've given me knowledge, knowledge of humanity ... and knowledge of you. I know what you are, Dreamer, and I've seen what you have done. If I let you live, you will not stop until one of us lies broken on the ground."

He paused a moment before letting out a small chuckle. "I suppose I do owe you my thanks though, Dreamer. Without your magnificent machines, the child would have undoubtedly killed me."

"Yeah, well give 'em back, and we'll call it even."

Asgore's laughter filled the air, deep unpleasant laughter. "Consider it your contribution to the war."

"War? What war?" Glen asked, a slight relief filling her as her feet finally connected with the pine needle-covered ground.

"The war I intend to wage against humanity.."

"Why attack humanity?" Glen persisted. "You can't think the actions of one human child represent humanity as a whole."

"You think humanity would welcome one such as me?"

"I did." Glen moved from tree to tree, trying to spot the empowered bossun. It was hard to see; the forest was especially thick around the base of the mountain. "You think humans will freak because you're not human? Asgore, there are already non-humans on this planet. Asari, turians, sentients, elves, artificial life forms, descendants of the Glyche. Hell, there might even be other Dreamers like me; trust me, you'll fit right in."

Glen leapt back as the pine tree beside her was torn from the ground with great force. Asgore tossed the tree aside, his eyes on the now-exposed Glen as he floated to the ground to stand before her. "Would I? Even if I wanted to, my people are gone. Dead by the hands of a human I trusted, a human I treated as my own. You say not all humans are bad, but can you tell me there aren't still some that would do the same? Can you tell me there aren't segments of humanity who would gladly slaughter every monster without a second thought?"

"No." Glen said. "I can't. Darkness of the soul doesn't need black ooze; it exists in everyone in some measure. Thing is, even if you aren't my Asgore, you're still Asgore, and I know you well enough to know that this isn't you."

"Oh? Then what is it?"

"I have no idea." Glen confessed. "Liquid evil? Darkness made manifest? Desire twisted to mindless anger, enough to push even you over the edge? I'm no scientist, but I know you absorbed a good bit of it when you took Frisk's soul. It went from her to you. You saw your entire kingdom destroyed; that's enough to make anyone angry. With the ichor amplifying that anger ... well, it must be overwhelming even to a gentle bossun like you."

Asgore bowed his head. Taking this as a good sign, Glen slowly approached him. "The death of all the monsters in the Underground is a tragedy, Asgore, I feel that every bit as much as you. If I'd shifted to this reality earlier, believe me when I say I would've put a stop to it myself. I knew your people, Asgore. I knew your ex-wife. I knew your Royal Guard. Heck, I knew prospective members of the guard ... and I know you. This isn't your way. You don't want to start a war. You don't want to cause any more suffering."

"Perhaps ... perhaps you're right." Asgore said.

Encouraged by this, Glen took another step. She didn't see Headache coming. Asgore caught her around the chest, lifted her from the ground, and slammed her against another pine tree with enough force to shatter the bark. Her impulse gear spread the impact, but she definitely felt a few ribs snap.

"Then again." He said, black starting to drip from his eyes. "Perhaps you don't know what you're talking about. You didn't lose your entire kingdom today."

"Not today, no." Glen said with difficulty. "But I know what it feels like to lose everything in one go."

Asgore narrowed his eyes at her. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not. Look me in the eyes."

It was hard not to flinch as she met his gaze. For a moment, it looked as though he was reconsidering. Unfortunately, that moment passed all too-quickly. Perhaps he saw his reflection in her eyes, black ichor streaming from his face; he raised a hand to the black substance and stared at it.

"What ... what are you doing to me?" He asked, a note of horror in his voice.

"I don't know." Glen said truthfully. "But I think it's for the best."

Rage filled Asgore's face. "No! You ... you did this. You infected me with this!"

"No, Asgore, I'm just-"

He slammed her against the tree again. "I'll kill you! Then I'll turn my sights on the rest of this world!"

He raised his other hand, Headache's metal fist clenched to deliver a blow that would likely either smash Glen's head or knock it clear from her shoulders. Glen tried to speak, but he was squeezing her with his other hand, Headache slowly crushing the life out of her.

A blast of light shot past Asgore, blasting off a portion of one of his horns. He twisted toward the source enough for Glen to see it as well; Sans was riding Jake, one hand raised and blue fire flaring in his left eye socket. A massive reptilian skull floated behind him, already drawing more energy into its maw.

"Hey, your highness!" Sans shouted, "I got a bone to pick with you!"

Asgore flung his open hand at Sans, sending out a burst of fire that shattered the skull on impact to Sans's apparent surprise. Jake backpedaled, but Asgore surrounded them in a ring of fire too high for even Jake to jump.

Sans sent a barrage of bones flying at the empowered bossun, but Headache's missile shield powered by the magical strength of bossun containing the power of seven human souls made it little more than an act of defiance.

"I see." Asgore said. "Then I am truly alone. Perhaps that's for the best."

He raised his hand again, this time pulling in immense amounts of magical energy for a blast that would no doubt reduce the skeleton to ash and the robot dog into melted slag.

This did cause him to slightly loosen his hold on Glen, who took as deep a breath as she could manage before shouting, "Headache: Action code forty-seven! Remove approved user Asgore Dreemurr, authorization turbo-cheesecake!"

"Authorization confirmed. Action code forty-seven initiated." replied a voice from within Headache. Before Asgore could react, both units constricted around his arms. Both of the mechanical hands flew open, allowing a very winded Glenda to fall to the ground and quickly scrabble towards Sans and Jake.

"What did you ..." He stopped suddenly, letting out a roar as a loud crack of bone shot through the air, followed shortly by another. His arms were immediately pulled to the ground as Headache's mass effect generators went to full power, increasing their weight a hundred-fold and effectively weighing the Dreemurr down.

"And stay there." Glen muttered as she did her best to quell the flames around Sans and Jake. Fortunately, a light autumn rain was already reducing the flames, allowing Jake to carry Sans out of the circle.

"What the heck did you do?" Sans asked, staring at Asgore as he struggled to move.

"Anti-theft functionality." She said. "Breaks the arms of an unauthorized user and weighs them down until security can arrive."

Grinning, she elbowed Sans's side. "Consider it a disarming mechanism."

When Sans didn't respond, Glen blushed and turned away. "Sorry; I guess it's not really the time."

"He certainly didn't find it humerus, did he?"

Glen met Sans's eyes for a moment before they both laughed. Unfortunately, their laughter was short lived as Headache exploded into a thousand flaming fragments. Glen managed to shield Sans from the debris, though she felt more than one chunk hit her in the back. The selanium-threaded shirt protected her from cuts, but not bruises.

Asgore rose from the ground, his form twisting and growing. Ichor matted his white fur as he gradually grew to three times his previous size. The broken bones snapped into place with audible pops as King Dreemurr turned his sights once again on Glen, Sans, and Jake.

There was no reason in the bossun's eyes; only ichor, red, and hatred. He let out a roar that shook the very trees, sending any bird nesting in a mile radius flying.

Glen was reviewing her very poor chances taking on the monsterous Asgore when she heard Sans shout, "Hey, landlady!"

Glen turned to see Sans already on Jake. She needed no prompting to hop on behind the skeleton and wrap her arms around his mid-section as Jake took off running.

Asgore flew after them, the trees uprooting as he flew past. Fortunately, for all his power, he couldn't match Jake's ability to turn and twist.

"Back to the entrance to the Underground!" Glen shouted.

"I thought you were gonna try and stop him before he starts blowing up the surface!"

"I am!" Glen told Sans. "Trust me!"

He flashed her his usual grin. "Why do I get the feelin' that's a dangerous statement coming from you?"

The path back to the entrance was narrow and rough, a far cry from the paved and safety rail-lined path Glen originally took to get there. More than once, Jake nearly fell back over the edge; fortunately, Sans was able to give Jake a push here and there, and Glen managed to keep them all from flying off the trail once by grabbing a conveniently placed root.

That wasn't the worst of their troubles, however; Asgore was still behind them. Whether from anger or ichor, he was little more than a roaring beast at that point, hurling fire at the retreating group as well as trying to block their paths with magical tridents that crashed into the stone like red thunderbolts.

Finally, however, Jake brought them face to face with the passage to the Underground. The entrance had partially collapsed, but there was still a sizeable hole left that was more than large enough for the three of them.

"All right!" Glen said, patting Jake's side. "Just a little farther, boy, and I'll give you all the ram chips you can eat!"

Jake barked excitedly as he continued to race toward the Underground. About fifty feet away, however, a shadow fell over them.

"Whoa!" Glen shouted, but Jake was already skidding to a halt ... and not a moment to soon. Asgore hit the ground in front of them with one massive fist, sending a tremor that nearly made Glen lose her footing.

Asgore turned to her immediately, raising both hands. Another trident appeared in his grasp, glowing faintly red.

"This is your end!" Asgore said, raising the trident.

Glen raised her makeshift UBTs and fired. Asgore didn't bother dodging; the flare went wide, flying well over his shoulder, where it hit the ceiling of the tunnel and immediately burst into light.

He stared at it for a moment before turning back to Glen with a murderous smile on his face. Sans sent a torrent of bones at the massive bossun, Jake assisting by firing off a series of electrical bursts. Neither seemed to even phase Asgore; he simply continued walking toward Glen.

"Any last words?" He rumbled as he raised his hands over the comparatively tiny human.

"Just two." Glen said, grinning as she pointed behind Asgore.

His eyes went wide as a sultry voice let out an amplified, "Oh, yeah!"

Mettaton exploded out of the passage, knocking Asgore back as he made his big debut from the Underground. Massive, gleaming, and loaded with Alphys's prototype weaponry, Mettaton had more in common with one of the Dreadnaughts Glen designed than he did with his old body, though the overall effect still looked surprisingly glamorous.

"I give you ... Mechaton!" Glen said before following Sans and Jake to a safe distance away.

"What the-" Asgore said before a giant (yet still shapely) foot knocked him back.

"I'm the hero, darling." Mechaton said. "If you want to destroy all my future fans, you'll have to go through me."

The fight was on; Asgore and Mechaton struggling on the cliff face with the city of Ebott visible in the distance as the night waned. Asgore was stronger, but Mechaton's new body was quick and equipped with energy beams, laser projectors, and even an energy blade that helped even the playing field. Blade clashed against trident, fire blackened metal, and lasers burned through flesh as the two giants struggled.

Glen, Sans, and Jake could do little more than watch with bated breath as the two struggled at the cliff side. Unfortunately, Asgore was the stronger; even with Glen's knowledge as a Builder, she was still limited to using the junk Alphys collected, and as the fight drew on it began to show. Weapon systems failed, the energy blade was knocked aside, and soon it was Mechaton who was struggling, his arms entwined with Asgore in a vain attempt to resist Asgore.

With a roar, Asgore tore Mechaton's arms from their sockets. Mechaton stumbled back, a stunned look on his face as a triumphant Asgore tossed the arms over the cliff. Mechaton took a step back as Asgore moved in for the kill.

That's when the first boulder hit him in the back. Sans swept his other arm down, sending another flying at Asgore. It wasn't alone; Glen's makeshift UBTs gave her enough extra strength to let her throw a few sizeable rocks of her own. Jake barked angrily as the Dreamer and the skeleton made as much a nuisance as they could of themselves, all the while shouting whatever puns came to their minds.

"We're gonna beat the schist outta you!"

"That'll teach ya to take us for granite!"

"Come on, Sans! Don't get all sedimental now!"

"A little slow there, landlady! What's wrong? I thought you'd be boulder!"

"Going against us was your Biggest Mistake! Eh? Eh? The Rolling ... ugh, fine. How about, uh, you're not so tufa!"

Whether because of the barrage of rocks or the unending stream of bad jokes, Asgore turned his attention from Mechaton to the comparatively small figures of Glen and Sans, no doubt thinking the robot helpless without arms. That was his mistake.

Mechaton's legs snaked around Asgore's mid-section. While not as refined as those in Glen's tek-boots, the electromagnets Glen installed in Mechaton's feet and legs made up for lack of finesse with raw power as they clamped to Asgore's armor.

"Who needs arms," Mechaton whispered in the bossun's ear with a victorious grin. "When you've got legs like these?"

With that, Mechaton fired every booster remaining on her frame, carrying the surprised Asgore with him over the edge of the cliff. The resulting explosion shook the cliffside for a good five seconds before the ground was finally still.

Sans and Glen met each other's gaze instantly. "Mettaton!"

They rushed to the edge of the cliff and peered down at the ground, where the light of the moon was just enough to illuminate the twisted wreckage of Mechaton lying in a massive pile of ash. There was no sign of movement ... no sign of life.

Glen pulled off her visor and rubbed her forehead.

Sans looked at her. "Is there a chance ... I mean, Mettaton's a machine, right?"

"That explosion was the power core." Glen said sadly. "Even if the machine parts could be fixed, his soul was gone the moment the core shattered."

They shared a moment of silence for the fallen entertainer. Even Jake bowed his head.

"He went out like he would've wanted." Sans said, his tone solemn. "In a blaze of glory, the hero of the Underground."

"Oh, right. I was gonna go with 'his legs wrapped around the king', but your thing is good too."

Sans gave Glen an incredulous look, only to find Glen smiling kindly back. Chuckling, he said, "To Mettaton?"

"To Mettaton!" She said, raising one of her makeshift UBTs.

Sans raised his hand as well, the still-cracked reptilian skull forming above him and charging up energy.

They both fired at the same time; Glen's flares nearly enveloped by the energy blasts of Sans's summoned skull. Sans and Glen watched as the light rose through the night while amidst the wreckage at the base of the cliff, eight glowing souls flew from the wreckage and vanished from sight, the red soul and the white soul flying close together before disappearing entirely.


	17. Chapter 16 - Sunrise

**Chapter 16**

 **Sunrise**

Sans and Glen sat on the edge of the cliff overlooking the city of Ebott. Jake sat nearby in stand-by mode; he'd used a lot of energy, and was taking the time to recharge.

"So I guess that makes me the last monster, huh?" Sans said, sounding unusually somber.

Glen shrugged and sat down with her legs hanging over the cliff. "Well, Vinta has skeletons. Mind you, they're people who agreed to become skeletons, making them technically undead and not living skeletons like you. Still, kindred spirits."

"Kindred spirits." Sans glanced at Glen. "Kinda like you."

"I'm more of a force of chaos." Glen said with a grin that faded after a few moments. "You all right?"

"Me? I'm always all right."

"Sans."

Sans looked at her and sighed. "Not really."

Glen put her hand on Sans's shoulder and pointed at the horizon, where the sun was just beginning to rise. They watched in silence as the sun rose over the city of Ebott in the distance, where thousands of people were getting up to prepare for their day, unaware of how close they came to destruction.

Glen wasn't sure what to say to Sans, or if she should say anything at all. What do you tell someone who's seen everyone they know die?

"Hey."

Glen looked at Sans to find him pointing at her dimensional analyzer. "You wanted to try that on someone, right?"

"Well, yeah, but ..."

"Lemme see."

Shrugging, Glen handed him the device and showed him how to adjust the knobs. After a few moments, he lined up the wave lengths and a code appeared on the screen.

"A-18." He said, holding it up so that Glen could see it. "You?"

She used the device on herself and showed him the result: J-27.

"So you really are from another reality." He said. "And you live there?"

"Ebott? Yeah. I mean, our Ebott's more homey and less bleeding edge technology, but yeah. Monsters have flourished; hell, some of you joined the Alliance and went out to space."

"And Papyrus?"

Glen smiled at the memory of her eccentric yet very dedicated friend. "Leader of the town guard. It's a mostly for-show position, but he's had the chance to rattle his bones at a few baddies. He also runs a little italian restaurant."

Sans chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like him."

After a few moments, Sans turned to face Glen. "Why did you come here? I mean, I get shifting into this dimension was an accident, but you came to the Underground for a reason, right?"

Nodding, Glen fished around in her pockets for a few moments before producing the folded up drawing she'd found on the knife. "The flower's Asgore's son, Asriel. My Frisk had to leave him behind, and she was worried about him."

"Ah. I was wondering. Saw him here and there before." After a momentary pause, he said, "He's dead. Ours is, I mean; he tried to stop Chara and ... well."

"Well." Glen said with a sigh. "Apparently, Alphys created him accidentally by injecting flowers with liquid determination. I guess they still had some remnant trace of Asriel; enough to bring him partially back."

Sans frowned. It was a strange look for the normally grinning skeleton. "But he didn't have any of that ichor. I think whatever got Frisk had the same thing; determination without soul."

"Maybe it's different for plants." Glen said with a shrug. "That's why Alphys tested it on them. I dunno, Sans. This whole experience has given me a ton of questions and only a handful of answers. To top it all off, now I'm not even in the right universe ... dimension ... whatever."

"What are you gonna do about that, anyway?" Sans asked. "Are you stuck here?"

"Maybe, maybe not." She said. "Part of the reason I came down here was because of this."

She drew the Inverse Harmonius symbol in the dirt between her and Sans. "It's called the Inverse Harmonius. It's a piece of shattered reality that allows travel through dimensions; I saw a whole one once, but it had already chosen a host. Thing is, because it was a piece of true reality, it exists in every reality. It's something I've been looking for myself, to be honest, and Frisk told me she dreamed of a fragment of the rune before drawing this picture."

She handed him the other picture she'd received from Frisk. Sans looked at it for a moment before asking, "What's this star thing?"

"I dunno. Seems important, but honestly, I've no idea. Something else to ask Asriel, I suppose."

Glen rose to her feet and tried in vain to beat some of the dust out of her clothes. She still felt like she'd taken a ride in a tumble dryer, but she could feel her broken ribs were back where they were supposed to be. "First things first; I need to get back to my reality. Aside from the fact Toriel and the others are probably freaking out about me, I got a funny feeling that dark thing trying to attack Asriel in Frisk's picture has some connection to the ichor. Either way, I need to find the kid as soon as possible."

Glen had only taken a few steps when Sans asked, "Who did you lose?"

"Pardon?"

"You told Asgore you knew what it was like to lose everyone. Who did you lose?"

Glen stared at him for a moment before sighing and walking back over to him. Once again sitting down, she said, "Pretty much everyone I ever knew, to be honest. My friends, my family ... my wife."

"What happened to them?"

"To them?" Glen asked, "Nothing happened to them. It happened to me; I was thrown out of my own timestream. Normally, I'd just time-travel back to where I was; I know a few people who have the means, and in a pinch I might even be able to manage it myself, but my time stream's separate from ..."

She stopped. Sans's eye-sockets were glazed over. If Sans didn't understand it, she knew she wasn't saying it right.

Glen sighed and shook her head. "It's complicated. Long story short, all I can do is wait."

"How long?"

"Eighteen-hundred and thirty-seven years." Glen said, forcing a smile.

Sans stared at her for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "I'm guessing you're not human either then."

"Oh, I'm human." She said. "I'm as human as they come. I'm just ... something else too."

"Something else, huh?"

"I don't wanna bore you with details."

"Hey, if we're gonna be travelling together, I should know everything, yeah?"

Glen stared sharply at him. "What makes you think we're going to be travelling together?"

"Well, you were gonna ask me, and I was gonna say yes." he grinned at her. "You were gonna talk a bit more about your wife and what you lost in an effort to build some empathy, then you were gonna suggest that I go with you, probably banking on the fact that if nothing else, I could go to your Ebott and be among my own kind."

Glen stared at him for a few moments before letting out a chuckle. "I never could hide anything from you."

"Well, what can I say?" He said, shrugging. "You were gonna be very persuasive."

They shared a laugh at this. Glen rose to her feet again and stretched.

"Right." She said after the last of her vertebrae popped into place. "Okay; first step is getting back to J-27. There should be an imprint of where I first shifted in the fabric of reality, so we'll need to scan the tunnel to find it. We might be able to reopen the original rift between realities and-"

She stopped and turned around; she'd thought Sans was following her, but he was still sitting at the cliff, his finger-bones poking at the dirt beside him. She approached and realized he was tracing the Inverse Harmonius.

"Uh, Sans?" She asked.

"Gimmie a sec." He continued tracing the rune for a few moments before moving the and over a few of the lines, leaving a little less than half of the total rune.

"If this were the, uh ..."

"Inverse Harmonius." Glen supplied, crouching down beside him.

"Right. What would it look like? Physically, I mean."

"A glowing rune, hovering vertically in the air." Glen told him, "Anyone looking at it would think it was facing them."

Sans looked her in the eyes. "I think I might be able to help you. C'mon; we need to get back to Snowdin."

"All right!" Glen said, helping Sans to his feet. She took a few steps toward the entrance to the Underground, only for Sans to shake his head.

"I got a faster way." He said, holding out his hand. "That is, if you trust a bone-head like me."

"Takes one to trust one." She said, taking his hand in hers. "Jake?"

Jake jumped to his feet with a loud bark before turning toward them. He quickly trotted over to them and placed one metal paw over their hands.

"All right." Sans said, nodding. "Better prepare yourself; it can get kinda weird."

"Anything I should worry about."

"Nah. Hey, you don't really need your skin, right?"

"Oh, very f-"

With a loud pop, the Dreamer, the skeleton, and the robot dog vanished from the cliff, leaving nothing but tracings and footsteps in the dust.

Napstablook stared at the rising sun in awe, spectral tears shining as they fell from his eyes. "It's ... it's so beautiful."

"It sure is, Blookie." Mettaton said. The form Alphys built for him made it through the crash of his mech body, thanks to the converted lifepod Glen crammed into the torso as a sort of cockpit control center. It escaped from the explosion of the secondary core relatively intact. Unfortunately, Glen had been too pressed for time building Mechaton to do more than basic repairs on Mettaton's body. His power reserves wouldn't last much longer ... but he couldn't bring himself to tell his dear cousin as much.

"I always wondered ..." Napstablook said. "I mean, we heard stories about the surface, but I never imagined it'd be so beautiful."

After a few moments, Napstablook rolled over to look at Mettaton. "Hey ... Mettaton ... what do we do now?"

Mettaton gave Napstablook his best smile. "Whatever we want, darling. For now, though, let's just enjoy the sun."

"Okay ..."

Mettaton closed his eyes. There wasn't much power left; he'd last a few minutes, ten at most. Sure, someone could come and power him up again, but he hated leaving Napstablook alone.

"Listen, Blookie ..." Mettaton said, only to stop as he heard a high-pitched sound he couldn't identify. He opened his eyes to see a small shuttle flying over their clearing, blocking the sun with its metal bulkhead.

"Mettaton?" Napstablook said, sounding worried.

"Easy, darling; there's no reason to assume the worst." Even so, Mettaton couldn't help but be worried as the shuttle slowly landed beside them. "Still, we might as well be careful; go hide and I'll let you know when it's safe."

"Okay." Still looking nervous, Napstablook quickly flew behind one of the nearby pine trees. Mettaton remained lying on the ground, no longer having enough power to stand.

Once it was on the ground, the back hatch of the shuttle slid open, revealing a humanoid figure in what appeared to be a spacesuit, her face obscured by a mask. She glanced at the wreckage for a few moments before shaking her head and turning her attention to Mettaton.

"Hey there." She said, waving a gloved hand. "Can you hear me? Are you the pilot of ... whatever that was?"

Before Mettaton could respond, the woman pulled a small device from her side. The device emanated a blue field that swept across Mettaton's body a few times before ceasing.

"From the scan and the state of that thing, I'm guessing yes. Strange; the complexity in your storage is way more complicated than I expected in a purely artificial construct. If I didn't know any better ... are you an AI?"

Again, Mettaton tried to speak, only to be interrupted. The woman's little device started beeping loudly.

"Oh my ... no wonder you're so quiet, your power reserves are almost gone! Hold on a sec."

The helmeted woman disappeared into her shuttle for a moment before returning with a couple of glowing blue objects. She knelt by Mettaton, slid one of the objects into the back of her glove, and pressed the powered glove against Mettaton's core. Power flooded through Mettaton's system, more than enough to keep him active for hours, days even.

"Oh, thank you, darling." Mettaton said, sitting up. "I confess, I'm a bit embarrassed to be seen like this."

"Oh, don't you worry about that." The woman said, patting Mettaton on the shoulder. "I can fix you right up in no time. Still, I have to ask, what happened here?"

Mettaton thought about the Underground, the fallen child, and ultimately the fight with Asgore. "That, my dear lady, will take some time."

"It always does." She said with a tone of resignation. "Well, don't worry; we'll have plenty of time while I get you fixed up. Are you alone?"

"Not quite." Mettaton said. "Hey, Blookie?"

Napstablook floated cautiously out from behind the pine tree. The woman stared at the ghost as he slowly floated toward her.

"Um ... hi." Napstablook said, his ghostly cheeks tinged red.

"Hey there." The woman said, sounding more amused than anything. "Your friend here's not just a robot, is he?"

"No. Mettaton's my cousin."

"Mettaton?" The woman repeated. "Ha! I like that! And you are?"

"N-napstablook. We're ghosts."

"It's a bit complicated, darling." Mettaton said, waving a hand dismissively. "Plenty of time to tell you all about it later, though. Perhaps even sing it; I'm quite the singer, you know, darling."

The woman laughed. "I bet you are. I'm ... oh, hang on."

She pulled off her helmet to reveal a pretty blue-skinned face. While she had no hair, flat scalp crests that swept over the top and across the sides of her head, coming to a rough point an inch or so from the back of her skull.

Mettaton was instantly intrigued. "Oh, my; you aren't human, are you , darling."

"Asari, actually." She said, giving Mettaton a smile that was every bit as dazzling as his own as she extended a hand that bore a very familiar tattoo. "Glenai Adammans, intergalactic tinker, fixer, and general trouble-maker. Call me Glen."

"Glen." Mettaton repeated, trading a knowing glance with Napstablook, who surprised Mettaton by letting out a giggle. Chuckling himself, Mettaton said, "Well, if you don't mind our company, we'd be delighted to tell you our story ... and perhaps hear yours in turn, darling?"

"Great!" Glenai said, beaming. "It'll be nice to have some company for a change. I tell ya, the universe is way too big to be going it alone, and I've been at it for … two-hundred years? Three-hundred? Bah, I'm rambling; come aboard, and we'll get you settled in."

"Uh, Miss Glen?" Napstablook asked, "We have a dog. He's a bit big, but-"

"Well, bring him along! Plenty of room inside; my shuttle's a lot bigger on the inside."

"It is?"

"Yeah. It's a long story; it all started when I saw this weird blue police box on the sidewalk of Thessia. C'mon, I'll tell you all about it."

Napstablook and Glenai entered the ship as Mettaton whistled for Endogeny. The massive canine came running moments later, passing Mettaton and quickly climbing up the ramp to the cry of, "Oh, wow. You are a big boy … girl … dog, aren't you?"

Mettaton stared at the surface world he'd only just come to know. The knowledge that it was just the tip of the iceberg, that there was an entire universe out there waiting brought a smile to his face. After all, a bigger universe meant so many more fans awaiting the latest and greatest superstar, fresh from the Underground.

"Mettaton?" Napstablook called, "Mettaton, you have to see this! It's incredible!"

"Be right there, Blookie." With a final glance at the morning sky, Mettaton climbed the ramp that he knew would lead him, Napstablook, and their new friend Glen into a future even brighter than the sun.


	18. Chapter 17 - In too Deep

**Chapter 17**

 **In too Deep**

Golemite held a chunk of ice to his head as Jenny returned with a glass of pear juice for Asriel. One of the benefits of the late shift was the lack of other patrons in the diner, which was good; while he had a few friends in the Skyway Repair Crew, the only people Asriel trusted with the secret of the Everstar were now all in that diner. Even then, he hoped he could keep Jenny out of it.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Jenny asked, putting a hand on the golem's stone bicep.

"I've been bettah." He gently patted her hand. "Don't worry 'bout me, Jenny. I've gotten worse."

She gave him a smile that even Asriel could tell was a bit forced. As she moved back to the register, her tail sliding smoothly over the tiles of the diner, Asriel said, "It was close, Golemite. That bug assassin was really fast. One wrong move, and I woulda bought it big time."

"Not your fault, Azzie." Golemite said, wincing as a chunk of ice slid down the side of his head. "Damn bug probably had this planned for awhile; rent out the next apartment, take me out with an explosion, then move in on you."

"But he was after ..." Asriel glanced at Jenny, who quickly went back to pretending to work at the till despite the fact no one else was in the diner.

Golemite nodded. "Maybe he was eavesdroppin' on ya when ya went to see Mayor Mayor."

"Mayor Mayor lives in the moon, Golemite; I think we would've noticed." Glancing at Jenny again, Asriel said, "Honestly, I'm more worried about Flowey."

"Azzie," Golemite said, setting down the chunk of ice. "It was a tight situation. You were under a lotta stress, and ya just imagined ya saw a talkin' flower. That's all it is."

"But ..."

"No buts; jus' stay focused from here on out, an' everythin' will be fine."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Golemite returning the block of ice to his head.

"'sides, couldn't be Flowey." Golemite said. "Ya said it yerself; you were Flowey. You ain't Flowey now, and even if you was, you couldn't be in two places at once."

"I know. It's just ... it scares me, you know? To think that he ... it could still be in my head."

"Then stop thinkin' about it." Golemite said. "No use worryin' about what you can't change. Listen; you see him again, you do what you did this time; don't listen. Just don't forget to defend yerself at the same time."

Asriel nodded and took a deep drink of juice. "So what now?"

"Now we gotta rebuild our apartment before Bunyat tries to rent out the other apartment. You know that long-eared celery-nibbler'll try to put that hole on us. I'll talk to Vince down at HQ, see if he can't give us some spare materials to-"

"No, I mean about the ..." Asriel glanced at Jenny; she seemed genuinely distracted this time, checking on something cooking in the oven. "About the Everstar."

"Hey, like I said, Saymor was jus' a fluke. He probably found ya by accident; even a blind monkey will find a banana once in awhile."

Asriel frowned. Something was bothering him, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. Shaking his head, he finished his drink and leaned forward "It wasn't a fluke, Golemite; he could sense it. Mayor Mayor warned my this might happen. 'The shards of the Everstar call to their brothers'. It's only a matter of time before someone else tries to take mine."

Golemite set the block of ice down on the table again. "All right, Asriel, you need ta tell me everythin' Mayor Mayor and his sister told you about da Everstar. If someone's comin' after us, I gotta know."

"But if I leave, you'll be safe ..."

"If you leave, I'll be comin' wit ya, so no, I won't be safe."

"Golemite ..."

Golemite crossed his massive arms. "I ain't gettin' talked outta dis, Azzie. We're like bruddahs, I know you feel da same, and I ain't gonna let you get squashed 'cuz yer scared I might get a bit banged up."

Seeing Golemite's resolute face, Asriel couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, Golemite."

"Don't mention it." He said, ruffling Asriel's ears. "One more thing before you get started. Jenny!"

Jenny stood straight up, the glass she'd pretended to polish flying in the air. She fumbled with it for a few moments before finally catching it and setting it down. Trying to act nonchalant, she moved to their table and gave them her biggest smile.

"Need somethin', boys?"

"Yeah. Sit down."

"Excuse me?"

"If yer just gonna listen in, you might as well be comfortable."

Sighing, she wrapped her tail in a tight coil and sat on it. "Is it true? You have a piece of the Everstar?"

"Two pieces." Asriel said, reluctantly pulling his shirt down enough to show her the glowing star on her chest.

She brought a hand to her mouth, the other slowly moving to touch the star, much to Asriel's discomfort. Fortunately, she seemed to catch herself and quickly pulled her hand back.

"Sorry, sweetie," She said, "It's just ... I've heard stories about the Everstar since I was a little girl, but I never dreamed I'd ever actually see even a single shard! My sisters and I used to talk for hours about what we'd wish for if we ever found all the pieces!"

"Might as well start there." Asriel said, letting his shirt shift back into position. "The rumors and stories about it are true; Mayor Mayor used the Everstar to create the Deep, with Nowhere as the Hub. According to him, that was over three-hundred years ago; since then, the Deep has spread even further ... no, not spread. It's grown."

"Do they know how big it really is?" Jenny asked.

"Huh. I could tell ya dat." Golemite said, shifting in his seat. "After all, the Skyway connects everything, yeah?"

He grabbed the condiments from their holder and started arranging them around the table. "All right, dis salt shaker here's Nowhere, yeah? We're in da middle, like Azzie jus' said. You head straight north, an you'll get to the Brass Woods. Ya head east instead, and you'll end up at the shore of the Glass Ocean. To da west, you got da Drifting Meadows, and finally to da South, ya got da Chorus Mountains."

"And beyond them?" Jenny asked.

Dolemite laughed. "Ain't nuthin beyond them! Dat's as far as the Skyway goes!"

"The Skyway stops, but the land keeps going." Asriel said quietly.

Golemite stared at Asriel. "You mean dere's more?"

"Mayor Mayor's spoken with explorers and adventurers who tried to explore the outer reaches of the Deep." Asriel said, "Those that came back told of crystalline towers beyond the Chorus Mountains, and of a desert of blue sand past the Glass Ocean."

"And past the Drifting Meadows and the Brass Woods?"

Asriel shook his head. "None of the adventurers heading to those places ever reported back. I mean, they might have just went somewhere else; there are little villages and towns all over the place, and maybe they just haven't made it back yet."

"Wow." Jenny said, rubbing her arms as though cold. "It's weird to think of there being places in the Deep that no one's explored."

"Or survived." Golemite said grimly. "But what does dis have to do with da Everstar?"

"Mayor Mayor thinks that the presence of the shards might be prompting the growth. He thinks that the Everstar remembers the previous wish, and is continuing to create the Deep around the pieces."

"Hang on," Dolemite said, "If dat's true, wouldn't we know by now? I mean, you and me, we've been all over Nowhere deez past few weeks, what wit all da breaks in da ..."

Dolemite stopped and looked at Asriel, who blushed.

"Sister Mayor told me they've reported several feet of growth across Nowhere, mostly in Central Nowhere. She thinks the Skyway's breaking down because it is stretching itself thin."

"Now jus' see here a sec!" Golemite said, standing up. "Even if all dis stuff 'bout da Everstar is true, it ain't yer fault. It ain't like you knew, and even if you did, dat thing's actin' as yer soul; it ain't like you can get rid of it!"

"The shards are your soul?" Jenny asked, to which Asriel nodded.

"I have two shards; if Mayor Mayor is right, there are four more in the lands beyond the known areas of the Deep. As for the seventh ..." Asriel stopped, thinking about the mysterious shadow child. "I think she's on my side, at least right now. As for me, well ... I'm not going to wait for the others to try and take mine."

Asriel lifted his backback from beneath the table. "That's why I'm leaving."

"Leaving?" Jenny said, sounding startled. "You don't mean ... you're leaving Nowhere? Because this Saymor guy tried to kill you?"

"It's more than that." Asriel said. "I can feel the other shards, Jenny; it's vague, but with two, it's grown even stronger. If I can feel the other shards, they can feel me as well. I can't just stay here and hope the next shard-bearing monster isn't the kind of person who would kill anyone in his or her way to get to me; I'm going to go find them first. Shards aren't always bonded to a people, Mayor Mayor said so. If that's the case, maybe I can reason with them and somehow earn the shards."

"And?' Jenny said, crossing her arms. "What if they say no? What if they need their shards as much as you need yours?"

"Then I'll come back here and forget about the whole thing." Asriel said firmly. "But I need to know that they aren't coming after me."

"But what if you're walking into a trap?" Jenny pleaded. "Asriel, please, think about this; if you stay here, we can help keep you safe!"

"That's the problem!" Asriel said, "Saymor saw Golemite as a threat and tried to kill him before attacking me."

Patting Golemite's arm, Asriel said, "I'm just glad he didn't realize how tough Golemite really is."

"Don't you know it." Golemite said, bumping his massive fist carefully against Asriel's clenched paw.

"Next time, we might not be so lucky. Next time he might hurt Golemite ... or he might hurt you."

"Me?" Jenny said, surprised. "Why me?"

"Oh, come on." Golemite said. "If I'm da big bruddah, yer his big sis. You have been since de first time I brought him here."

"I can't help it." She said, ruffling Asriel's ears until he ducked away. "He's just so cute and fluffy, I wanna hug the heck outta him."

"An' pretty much everyone knows it." Golemite said. "It ain't hard to see why someone like Saymor could try and take advantage of dat."

"I ..." She sighed and slumped over the table on her elbows, her head resting in her hands. "I see what you mean."

Asriel climbed out of the booster seat and hefted his pack. "That's why I've got to go. I't okay if I die; I've already had more than my fair share of being alive as it is."

"Now dat's not fair." Golemite said, rising as well. "What happened to you in de Underground was not yer fault; you said it yerself, livin' witout a soul does tings to ya. Besides, what about us? What about how we feel? I know you got parents up there, and your girlfriend Frisk-"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Asriel said, his cheeks feeling suddenly warm.

"-but we're yer family too, right?"

"Right." Jenna said, rising from her coils.

Golemite and Jenna hugged him. Asriel rested his head against Golemite's massive chest, his arm tightening around both him and Jenny.

"You don't hafta do dis alone." Golemite said. "We're wit you all of da way. If dat means you gettin yer soul back and goin' to the surface, you bettah believe I'm comin' along."

"Me too." Jenny said, smiling at Asriel. "Besides, with our help, how could you fail?"

Now Asriel knew he was blushing. "Y-you want to come with us?"

"I would, Azzie, but I can't; this diner's barely afloat as it is." She said, "But I can still help. My sisters are out in the Deep too; I'll call them up and let them know to keep an eye on you. While I can't say you can trust all of them, our hearts are in the right place."

She deftly plucked the cellphone from Asriel's shirt pocket and held it up, adding, "And if you ever have a problem, just give me a call. I hear all sorts of things here, so maybe I can help you out."

He looked at his two friends, feeling more grateful for their presence in his life.

"Okay." He said. "We'll head out in the morning."

They met the next morning just as the Foundation came to life. Shops opened, factories slowly came to life, and fast food workers put coffee on the grill as Asriel, Golemite, and Jenny met at the road leading to the Brass Woods.

"I told da boss we were gonna take a little trip." Golemite said.

Asriel winced; the squat goblin who ran the Skyway Repair crew was not the most pleasant of monsters. "Was he mad?"

"Mad? You kiddin'? He's been tryin' to get someone out there for ages; roads in all kinds o'bad shape. Paid me a hundred gold in advance. I tell ya, we'll have our work cut out for us, but when we get back, we're gonna be lookin' at a pretty sweet payday."

"Just make sure you both come back." Jenny told them, "Night shift's gonna be lonely with our you two keeping me company."

"Still not to late to tag along." Golemite said, hefting his rutsack.

"Tempting, but I'm going to have to pass." Jenny said. "Someone has to keep the home fires burning ... and make sure you still have an apartment waiting for you."

Silence fell over the group as the time to depart finally arrived. Jenny gave them both a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, though she had to rise up as high as she could on her coils to reach Golemite's cheek.

"Good luck, you two." She said, a big smile on her face. "Remember to keep an eye out for my sisters; they'll definitely be looking for you."

"We will." Asriel said.

"And remember to call me if you get stuck! Heck, call me if you don't get stuck. Say hi once in awhile!"

"We will." Golemite rumbled.

As they started down the skyway, she waved at them for a moment before calling out, "And be careful! Watch out for strangers, and if you run into danger, don't be afraid to run away!"

"We will!" They both called back.

Jenny continued calling after them well after they passed the point where they could make out what she was saying. They turned and waved one final time before Golemite helped Asriel climb on his shoulder.

"She acts like she's my mother." Golemite complained as Asriel made himself comfortable.

"I kinda miss that." Asriel said, thinking of his own mother. "It's nice."

"Yeah, it is." Golemite sighed and said, "You ready to get this train goin'?"

"Full speed ahead!" Asriel said, holding on tight as the golem started to run.


	19. Chapter 18 - Swapping Places

**Chapter 18**

 **Swapping Places**

Glen awoke with a start to find herself in her lab, a partially-eaten slice of pizza stuck to her cheek. Peeling the greasy slice from her face, she sat back in her chair and let out a massive yawn. Memories of lying in the snow and the talking skeleton faded as her mind was filled with information about her experiments.

Her eyes fell on the small picture of Teria that sat on her desk. It was old and faded, there was a visible crease in the paper from the time she kept it folded in her wallet, but it was the only picture she had of her wife.

"Morning, gorgeous." Glen said, rubbing the side of the picture frame. "Sleep well?"

The picture, unsurprisingly, did not respond. Glen looked at her wife's smiling face for a few more moments before rising from her chair. Stretching again, she made her way to the large machine in the back of her workshop. A series of clamps and mechanical arms held a large wooden door in place, the sign 'Please Use Other Door' still bolted on the side. Glen couldn't help but smile at the sight of it; Consago was going to be pissed when he found out she'd stolen the door from his ratty little nightclub ... and freed all those poor kids working in his sweatshop. There was something poetic about it; a door once used to imprison would become a door that would lead her everywhere ... when she got it working.

After setting a pot of coffee to brew, she resumed her work. She was used to intricate work, both with standard tech and magi-tech. Magi-tech was particularly touchy; too much energy here, a badly placed leyline there, and she'd be lucky if all that happened was the gear not working.

The door was something else altogether. Glen only told her wife and a few of her closest friends about her strange connection with the dream realm and the abilities that came with it. Initially afraid of that power, the Epitimus event and her subsequent adventure with her alternate self showed her the value of her innate abilities, and eased her fears enough to convince her to experiment. It was slow work; dream energy was extremely difficult to manipulate at the best of times. Even then, the results tended to carry an air of unpredictability. Over a thousand years, and she'd barely scratched the surface of what she could do.

The basic idea was simple; one side of the door would remain in her lab while the other would manifest somewhere else. For the sake of her tests, she chose an old abandoned mansion in Wenapaj, a small country on the planet Vinta. It was well away from any major settlement, eliminating any chance of collateral damage. The problem was separating the two sides of the door without tearing a hole in the universe or the barrier between reality and dreams.

Her current methodology was to create an open possibility based on the possibility that she could have taken the door somewhere else. It worked well for short range jumps; she'd scared dozens of the residents of Ebott by appearing out of closets and other unlikely areas. Unfortunately, the door failed to maintain the connection to the lab; it would vanish, leaving her stranded.

"I need a way to keep the door rooted in both places." She muttered, peering through the intricate weave within the door. "Maybe there's something wrong with the lab, or maybe I'm focusing on the wrong possibility.

Sighing, Glen rubbed her eyes. "Or maybe the whole idea's stupid. Why in the name of the Creator didn't I ask One how he did it?"

The acrid stench of burning coffee hit her nostrils. Glen looked to her coffee machine only to find coffee leaking out of a large crack in the side of the pitcher. She rushed over to turn the machine off, leaving the door construct active. She lifted the pitcher only to immediately drop it to the floor, her hand now quite pink.

The glass pitcher, already weakened by the existing crack, shattered against the hard floor of the basement. Piping hot coffee spread across the floor as Glen wrung her burned hand. She was too busy wishing she'd thought to wear gloves to notice the coffee reach the edge of the elaborate mechanism holding the door.

Hearing a spark behind her, Glen turned just as the door twisted around, smacking her full in the face and knocking her back into her tool box, in turn knocking it over and sending tools clatter all across the basement floor. The machine continued twisting and spinning the door; the construct kept it from breaking, but as a very sore Glen managed to regain her footing, she saw the construct start to unravel.

"Oh, hell." She said, hurrying forward only for the door to suddenly twist and smack her in the shoulder. Augmented by the unraveling dream energy, the blow was enough to send Glen flying again, this time launching her clear across the basement and through the closed and locked wooden cellar door.

She landed amidst the remains of the cellar door on a small path that surrounded the Cherry House. It took her a few moments to recover from the shock of it all, but when she did, she looked back to see the fraying strands of dream energy spreading through her basement at an alarming rate as the door spun faster and faster.

"Oh no." She said, rising to her feet despite her dislocated shoulder and legs that felt about as steady as wet noodles. She took a step forward only for her leg to give out and send her tumbling back to the ground.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder moments later. "Wow. That's one heck of a knock-knock joke."

"Not now!" Glen said, struggling to rise. "I gotta shut that thing off before the construct goes critical!"

She started to hobble toward the cellar, only for a short figure to appear in front of her seemingly out of nowhere. Normally even that wouldn't have been enough to stop her, but the figure's appearance gave even her panicked mind pause. It was another living skeleton, though this one was much shorter than the one she bumped into at Oaka's. This one was wearing a blue coat with a gray hood, black track shorts, and a pair of pink sandals.

"You look like you could use a hand." The skeleton regarded Glen with a wide smile. "And maybe a new leg."

Glen forced the obvious questions from her mind in light of the brewing emergency. "I gotta get back down there!"

"Whoa there, buddy!" The skeleton said, holding her back. "You aren't gonna make it down the steps in that shape."

"The construct's going critical!" Glen said, "If I don't get down there and shut that thing off, it's gonna-"

"That door spinny thing?" Sans asked, glancing at the wildly malfunctioning machine. "Would pulling the plug work?"

"I think so. Maybe. I mean, there's a small chance that ..."

Glen stopped; the skeleton vanished right in front of her. She was still staring at the space he previously occupied when she heard the engine of the machine holding the door die. She hobbled down the steps into her basement to find the door's spin already slowing down to a crawl.

Glen hurried over to the door and put her hand on the construct. The strands immediately retracted, sliding over the walls, the floor, and any unfortunate object that lay in their path. Several of her tools were transformed into different materials in the process; unfocused Dream energy is by its very nature a bit random.

She picked up her ball-ping hammer, the wood and metal tool now made entirely out of cheese.

"That was Thomas Desygan's hammer." She said sadly.

"That's no gouda." Sans said, walking around the machine while twirling one end of the cord.

Frowning, she tossed the hammer at him. He sidestepped the hammer easily, watching with a wide grin as it hit the wall and crumbled into pieces.

"Swissed me." He said, somehow grinning even wider.

Glen stared at him for a moment before letting out a chuckle. "Brie quiet, you."

"What can I say?" He said with a shrug. "I'm a Munster."

"You're a Punster." Glen said, chuckling again before extending her hand. "And I owe you big time, Mister ...?"

He gave me a curious look for a few moments before shaking her hand. "Sans."

"Sans." Glen repeated, straightening slightly as her body's healing shifted bones back into place. "Glenda ... but don't call me that. Glen's fine."

"I can deal with that." He said.

"You'd chedder."

* * *

Glen awoke to find herself lying on a couch. She let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes. While remembering her first meeting Sans was a mostly pleasant memory, the dream before that was so surreal: Mechaton and Asgore fighting in front of an Ebott that was part of the Systems Alliance was just bizarre, and the idea that Sans was the only monster to survive still made her feel like tearing up a little.

Strangely, she didn't recognize the house. Not sure how she came to be there, she started to sit up, only to realize that the blanket was in fact the only thing covering her.

"What the ..." She said, glancing around the house for her clothes. In truth, she didn't even know where she was. Wrapping the blanket around her person, she stood and took a look around.

The main room had little more than the couch, a table with a rock that looked to be covered with chocolate sprinkles, a flat screen television on a small desk, and a nightstand with a book.

"Humerus Aside; 1001 skeleton puns to tickle your funny bone." She read aloud with a small chuckle, thinking instantly of Sans.

The sound of a door closing made her drop the book. She approached the front door slowly and peered out the window. For a moment, she thought the woman outside was a fional. She certainly had the look of a bunny to her; white fur, long ears poking out of the top of her summer hat, and an adorable little bunny nose above slightly lips.

"Um, hello?" Glen said, cracking the door open.

"Oh! You're awake!" The bunny-woman said, her dark purple lips spreading in a kind smile. She held out a smile pile of folded clothes that Glen recognized as hers.

"Thank you." Glen said, taking the clothes with one hand. "Um, did you undress me?"

"Well, yes, dear. Your clothes were soaking wet when you arrived, and I figured you'd probably be more comfortable with another woman undressing you than one of the boys."

"Oh." Glen said, stepping aside. "Right. I'm sorry; I just ... I just woke up."

"I see that." She said, looking pointedly at the blanket as she stepped inside and held out her hand. "I'm Rahnna."

"Glen." Glen said, shaking her hand with some difficulty. "Um ... I'm just gonna step into the, uh, kitchen for a sec. Do you mind ..."

"Oh, not at all." Rahnna said, sitting down on the couch.

Glen hurried into the kitchen and quickly dressed herself, pausing only to stare at the strangely tall sink. Once dressed, she returned to the main area of the house with the blanket over her arm.

Handing the blanket to Rahnna, Glen said, "Thanks, Rahnna."

Rahnna accepted this with a nod, but said nothing.

Feeling awkward, Glen rubbed the back of her neck and said, "Um, nice place you have here."

"Hmm? Oh, this isn't my house." She said. "I'm just a friend."

Frowning, Glen opened her mouth to ask who the owner was when the front door opened again, revealing a face that was all too familiar.

"Papyrus!" Glen said, a wide grin on her face as she met the skeleton with a hug. She was met by a strange odor she realized moments later was the smell of cigarettes.

"Um, hi." He replied, sounding surprised. "I see you're feeling better."

"Yeah, well, you know me." Glen glanced down at Papyrus's orange hoodie and black track pants. "Hey, that's a nice look for you."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. It's nice to see you out of the armor once in awhile."

Rahnna gave Glen a strange look before asking Papyrus, "Armor? Pap, dear, what's she talking about?"

Papyrus raised an eye ridge at Glen before turning his attention to Rahnna. Taking her arm gently, he helped her stand and said, "Thank you very much for your help, sweetie."

"Oh, it was no problem." She said, a little startled as he guided her to the front door. "But shouldn't a stay in case-"

"As much as I enjoy your company, I really should have a word with our new friend alone. Royal Guard business, you know."

"Oh." Rahnna said, looking a little put out. "Well, if you need me later ..."

"I'll call." Papyrus said, ushering her out the door. He gave her a small peck on the cheek before closing the door on her.

"Wow." Glen said, putting a hand on her hip. "That was tactless."

"What? Oh, Rahnna. It's fine."

Glen crossed her arms and glared at him until he rolled his eye sockets. He stepped outside, only to return a minute or so later with several kiss lavender kiss marks on his skull.

"Better?" He said, the annoyance in his voice offset by the telling grin plastered on his skull.

"Better." Glen said approvingly. "It's nice to see you finally found someone, Pap. You been goin' together long?"

"A few months now." Pap sighed and fished in the pockets of his orange hoodie for a moment before pulling out a box of cigarettes. He fished one out and lit it with a flame that shot from the tip of one bony finger.

After taking a drag, he looked at Glen. No doubt noticing her gaze on his cigarette, he offered the box to her.

"I really shouldn't." Glen said. "I promised Teria."

He raised an eye ridge at her again, prompting her to sigh and take a cigarette.

"I'm sure the smell will wear off in the next two-thousand years." She said as he lit it for her. The sensation of warmth spreading through her chest was heavenly, though there was something about the cigarette that tasted slightly off ... not bad, just different.

She realized Pap was watching her. "Been awhile, huh?"

"About fifty years." Glen admitted. "I mean, I'm a Dreamer; it's not like it's going to hurt me. Can't imagine it causes any lasting damage for you either."

"Heh. Nah. I ain't got the lungs for it."

Glen let out a snort. "Careful; Sans hears you saying that, and you'll never hear the end of it. Speaking of, does he know?"

"That I smoke? Yeah, but he doesn't like it. I've been trying to quit myself, to be honest."

"For Rahnna?"

He chuckled. "Who do you think got me started?"

They laughed at this as they continued smoking. Glen felt more at ease than she had in a while.

"Mind if I tell you something?" She asked. When he nodded, she said, "It's nice to see you let your hair down like this, so to speak. Normally, you're as wound as a spring."

He seemed intrigued by this. "Well, since we're being honest, mind if I tell you something?"

Chuckling, Glen said, "I know stripes is a kid thing; I just really like this shirt."

"No, not that." he said, "I have no idea who you are."

Glen chuckled and shook her head. "See? I never knew you could be this funny."

Her laughter died as she realized his expression was serious.

"Look, we found you in the forest half-frozen." Papyrus said. "And it's not like humans just fall into the Underground everyday. To be honest, you're the first I've seen in decades, yet the way you're talkin', we've been bosom chums for ages."

Glen held a hand to her head, murmuring, "Then ... it wasn't a dream."

"What?" Papyrus asked curiously.

She opened her mouth when it came to her in a sudden flash. "Sans!"

Startled, Papyrus asked, "What about Sans?"

"Sans was taking me somewhere, but we were attacked by some black glitchy thing!" She said, "I tried to help, but I got thrown out of the-"

Papyrus was already out of the front door. Glen hurried after him, only to come to a halt when she saw the snow-filled town outside. The idea of a snowy mountain village being inside said mountain was just strange, though she reckoned it wasn't any stranger than anything else she'd encountered lately. Shaking her head, she ran after Papyrus. They raced through Snowdin, attracting no small amount of attention in the process.

The snow crunched beneath Glen's sock-covered feet as she followed Papyrus into the snow-covered forest. Papyrus was faster than her ... much faster, in fact. It was all Glen could do to keep him in sight. By the time he stopped at a sentry station that looked to have been fashioned from a large cardboard box, she was quite out of breath.

"Sans!" He said, peeking through the sentry station's window. "Sans, are you there?"

Glen came to a halt behind him a few seconds later, quite out of breath. "Wait." She said, struggling to breath. "Just give me a sec ... I'm sure ..."

"He must be in Waterfall." Papyrus said before running back the way they'd come.

'Pap, no, wait ..." Glen sighed; Papyrus was already out of hearing range. Rolling her eyes, Glen pushed her aching body to follow him. It was going to be another long day.


	20. Chapter 19 - Where They Fell

**Chapter 19**

 **Where they Fell**

Images flashed through Sans's unconscious mind; the swirling lights of his 'shortcut' all around them suddenly brought to a halt by something dark, something wrong ... something, he realized with horror in those last moments before losing consciousness, that wore his face.

"S-sans? W-what are you d-doing here?"

Sans sat bolt upright. He was in Alphys's lab, not far from the mass of monitors displaying security feeds from across the Underground. Alphys was sitting at the console, looking at him with clear surprise ... or at least he thought she was. The swirl pattern on her glasses made it hard to tell.

"Alphys!" he said, rising to his feet shakily. "You're alive!"

The lizard woman's surprise quickly turned to annoyance. "Of c-course I'm alive, you stupid bag of bones! Why wouldn't I be?"

Annoyance suddenly turned to suspicion. "Is someone trying to kill me? Is there a plot against my life? I knew it was only a matter of time!"

She rounded on Sans, driving him back against the wall. "You heard something, didn't you? Tell me!"

"Whoa, easy there, Al!" Sans said, quickly raising his hands. "No one's trying to kill you. It's just last I heard you got splashed with that ichor stuff."

"Ichor? What ichor?"

"The ichor! That black stuff that leaked outta the kid." He said, ignoring the sinking feeling in his chest.

"What kid? What are you ..." She stopped, her tone turning acidic. "Oh, I get it. You're making another of your hilarious jokes."

"I ain't jokin' Alphys!" Sans insisted. "That human kid was full of the stuff!"

"Yes, well someone's clearly full of something here." She said, adjusting her glasses. "There hasn't been a human in the underground for over a decade. Now, unless you're wanting to volunteer for one of my experiments, I suggest you get the hell out of my lab."

He stared at her as she returned to her seat at the security monitors. Something was wrong ... something was very wrong.

His foot brushed against something. Glancing down, Sans was shocked to discover that it was Glen's dimensional analyzer.

Glancing at Alphys, an idea slowly stole over his mind. He slowly approached her and said, "Hey, Al, sorry to bother you, but I need a hand with somethin'."

"Get that jerk of a brother of yours to help." She snapped, waving a hand at him.

Sans promptly clamped the analyzer on it.

"What the hell ...?" She tried to pull her hand back, but he used his telekinesis to hold it firmly.

"It ain't gonna hurt." Sans said, "Just give me a minute to adjust it."

She scowled at him, but there was interest faintly visible behind her glasses as she watched him twist the knobs until the waveform was unique and the result displayed on the screen.

"F-83." He said.

"Intriguing device." Alphys said, her eyes on the analyzer as Sans slipped it into his pocket. "Some kind of hand held bio-sensor?"

"Somethin' like that." Sans said. "It tells what dimension someone comes from."

Alphys scoffed loudly. "Alternate dimensions? What nonsense. Science fiction drivel propegated by weak-minds."

Even as she dismissed his words, however, Sans noticed her eyes firmly on the analyzer. It may not have been the Alphys he knew, but deep inside this Alphys had the same scientific drive. If anything, it was stronger; there was a hunger in her eyes that made Sans feel uneasy.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He said, backing away. "Sorry to bother ya, Doc; I'll be heading back to Snowdin."

Her gaze followed him until he left the lab. Breathing a sigh of relief, Sans started walking back to Snowdin, unwilling to trust his shortcut after what happened. Thinking of his shortcut, his thoughts turned to Glen; he'd lost his grip on her when that ... thing attacked them in mid-transit. Was she okay? Was she here, or did she end up in another dimension? How was he going to find her?"

Or should he? He was in another dimension. Alphys was alive, her strange demeanor aside. She said that there hadn't been a human in the Underground for over a decade; that meant Frisk or Chara or whatever the hell the human child who destroyed his reality actually was had yet to fall. Maybe the kid never arrived in that reality. If they did fall, however, Sans could keep a closer eye on them. If they were peaceful as Glen's Frisk, fine. If they weren't ... well, Sans would be in the perfect position to stop them before they reached Snowdin. Papyrus and the rest of the underground would be safe.

No. There was too much he didn't know; this was another dimension. He had no idea what differences he'd run into, how this world would differ from his own. He needed to be cautious and not jump to any decision. In the meantime, he's concentrate on getting back to Snowdin; with any luck, the Sans of that Universe would also have retained the machine.

Sans came to a halt. He'd reached the end of the bridge at the edge of Hotland, where one of his small sentry stations stood. It looked functionally identical to those he used for naps back in his own dimension, right down the oddly heat-resistant snow on the roof. Of more immediate concern, however, was the figure sitting in the station.

"Well, well, well." Sans said with a smirk. "It appears I've found myself."

The Sans in the guard post didn't respond, currently being asleep, albeit fitfully. They were about the same size, the only obvious difference being the colors of their coats; that universe's Sans wore a black coat with a much fluffier hoodie, red track pants instead of black, and a pair of old red sneakers. When the other Sans snored, Sans noticed another difference; the teeth of his doppelganger were sharpened to points, even the one made of gold.

He was just getting a closer look at his sweatier double when he heard the distant shout of, "SANS!"

A quick glance around for cover that didn't exist, Sans hopped over the cliff behind the sentry station and used his telekinesis to stick to the cliffside just out of view. He listened intently as hard footsteps quickly approached, only to come to a halt.

Sans jumped a little at the sounds of two hands smashing down on the counter of the sentry station. "Sans! You lazy piece of crap!"

"Wha?"

Another smash on the counter. "Your asleep at your post! Again!"

"Geez, Pap, don't get so heated."

Sans had to suppress a chuckle. It was a lot easier after he heard the sound of a skeletal hand smacking across a skull. A quick peek over the side of the cliff revealed the other Sans holding a hand against his cheek bone as another skeleton glared at him.

While Sans and his other self seemed mostly similar, the Papyrus of this dimension was so different that Sans barely recognized him. With his sharp teeth, cruel stare, black armor, and a long red cape coupled with armored boots and gloves, this Papyrus was far more intimidating than his kind-hearted other self.

Sans quickly ducked back beneath the cliff as the dark Papyrus leaned forward on the counter.

"What if Undyne were to come by here and catch you asleep? We'd be the laughingstock of the Underground! She might even dismiss me from my post."

"She ain't gonna dismiss you, Pap." Sans said. "Without you, she'd totally be floundering. Eh?"

Other Sans chuckled even as his brother groaned. "We've been over this! Undyne's attention is reserved for more important endeavors than patrolling and standing guard; that's why she delegates such tasks to us. I've worked for years to be worthy of that trust so that we're safe from the cullings, but if she were to catch you goofing around-"

"She'd kracken my head open?"

Papyrus slammed his gauntleted hands on the station again, this time hard enough to rattle the boards. "This is no joke, Sans! Do you think we'd last a day with all the traitors in the Underground if we weren't protected by our status as Royal Guards?"

"I know, I know." Other Sans said in a resigned voice. "I'm sorry, boss; I was out late last night patrolling the outskirts of the ruins, and I guess I just dozed off."

"That wasn't your normal patrol area." Papyrus said, sounding suspicious. "Did you find something? Did you find evidence of a human?"

"Nah, nuthin' like that. Sometimes I just get to wantin' to keep an eye on the entrance to the ruins, just in case."

"Well, don't." NegaPapyrus snapped. "That door's been locked for decades; any human unlucky enough to be stuck back there will have to contend with the exiles, and that's a prospect that even fills my soul with sympathy." Sighing, NegaPapyrus said, "Still, showing some initiative ... that is a definite improvement for you Sans. Miniscule, but still."

"Yeah?" NegaSans said, sounding a little surprised. Unfortunately, from the sound of footsteps, it was clear NegaPapyrus was walking away.

"I'm going to finish my patrol in Waterfall before heading home for the evening. I'll trust that you'll manage to stay awake for the rest of your shift."

"I will, boss." NegaSans said. "No more naps while on guard duty."

With a grunt of approval, NegaPapyrus's footsteps faded until they were gone.

"Today." NegaSans added with a chuckle. "Stupid bone-head bastard, screwin' with my beauty-sleep. One of these days I'm gonna kick him right in the coccyx."

Sans couldn't help it; he let out a chuckle at that pun. He quickly clapped his hands over his mouth as he heard NegaSans stand up and say, "The hell?"

Sans remained perfectly still as the sound of footsteps approached the edge of the cliff. He didn't even dare slide down a little further; if NegaSans's hearing was as good as his own, he'd notice any sound now that he was alert. All too-soon, Sans could see NegaSans standing above him, his red sneakers only a foot away from Sans's face.

After a few moments, NegaSans let out a grunt and turned away. Sans remained where he was until NegaSans's footsteps faded into the distance, then waited a few more minutes just to be sure. Once he was certain NegaSans was gone, Sans lifted himself back to the cliff edge and set down gently next to the centry station.

Wiping the sweat from his skull, he glanced both ways to find no sign of anyone coming from either Hotland or Waterfall. He started to head for Waterfall, only to stop when he realized he could use a little pick-me-up after using all that magic. If NegaSans was anything like Sans, he kept a few bottles of ketchup in his guard-stations. Just the thought of the sweet tomato sauce would have left him salivating had he the glands to do so.

"All right." Sans said, sitting down on the wobbly stool of the station. "Let's see what he's got here."

What he had turned out to be three bottles of mustard, a deck of cards in a shabby paper carton, and a magazine on human anatomy with an emphasis on bone structure, obviously scavenged from a junkyard. Some of the pages had magic residue on them; Sans quickly replaced the magazine before he could think about that for too long.

He wasn't much of a mustard fan, but deciding that some nourishment was better than none, he took a bottle, popped the top, and took a deep swig. To his surprise, the mustard was quite sweet, whatever was sweetening it effectively muting the normal tangy taste.

"Hmm." Sans said before taking another swig. "Tasty."

"Glad you think so, thief."

NegaSans leapt down from the roof, bones already forming in mid-air before he turned to face Sans. Left eye flaring red, NegaSans held a skeletal hand toward Sans and said, "Now you gotta pay the price!"


	21. Chapter 20 - Fallen Down

**Chapter 20**

 **Fallen Down**

The world burst to life in Jake's vision as his system rebooted. Olfactory sensors detected an unusually high pollen count in the immediate vicinity. Observation revealed this to be from the yellow flowers beneath Jake. He was in an underground chamber, the only exit a small hallway that led to a massive open doorway.

His repair systems indicated no damage, so Jake rose to his feet to better observe the area for signs of the threat. The whirling energy of Sans's shortcut did not compute, but the being that attacked them managed to produce an incredibly powerful subspace field to break apart the teleportation stream and separate Jake from Glen and Sans.

A quick sensor scan revealed life-signs nearby, though none in the immediate vicinity. Fortunately, physical observation of the nearby area did not uncover any bodies, indicating that Glen and Sans likely survived. A trail of yellow petals extended a short way down the hallway, indicating that someone who landed in the chamber departed in that direction.

Reasoning that it might be Glen or Sans and that they might still be nearby, Jake decided the only logical action was to look for them. Rising to his feet, he trotted down the long corridor in search of his companions.

He was only half-way down the corridor when his auditory sensors detected sounds of distress from a young female human, much too young to be Glen or Sans. While his current objective was to find his companions, Sans automatically bypassed his logic circuit and ran to assist.

The young child Glen identified as 'Frisk' lay on the ground in the room beyond, cowering in fear in front of a small circle of grass occupied by a single yellow flower. White orbs of an unidentifiable energy appeared in the air in front of the child, spinning for a few moments before flying toward her.

Jake leapt forward, rushing to stand between the child and whatever was threatening it. The white projectiles deflected off his kinetic fields and hit the walls of the chamber as he scanned the area for signs of the threat.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?"

Jake's sensors honed in on the source of the voice. It was the flower; while superficially similar to those of the previous room, this flower had a distinct face.

Jake growled at the flower as it regarded him with an angry expression. "Are you ... growling at me?"

Jake barked at the flower. According to his canine behavior databanks, it would act as a deterrent, frightening away the threat.

More white energy pellets hit his kinetic shields. While he was in no danger, Jake interpreted this as a hostile action and acted in kind, projecting an arc of electricity from his monitor to shock the flower. His aim was perfect; the flower twisted on its stem, its face a mask of pain.

Without another word, the flower dove into the earth. Jake leapt forward, metal paws digging in the dirt only to stop when it became clear the flower was long gone.

With the threat eliminated, Jake turned his attention to Frisk. She looked frightened as he approached, so he switched his monitor image to his usual 'happy' configuration. When she still didn't get up, Jake sat on his hind legs, tilted his monitor to the side in puzzlement, and let out a small questioning, "Woof?"

The little girl stared at him for a few moments before letting out a giggle. She rose to her feet and slowly approached Jake before finally touching the side of his monitor with a slightly trembling hand.

The sensation of touch was ... pleasurable. There was no other word for it. While the sensation was strange, it also registered with some of the errant data files stored within Jake, triggering him into letting out a rather silly-sounding giggle.

Frisk giggled with him before throwing her small arms around his monitor. This too registered with the errant data within Jake; his presence was comforting the small child. While there was no logic or programming algorithm in his system to account for it, he found the child's presence comforted him as well.

Fast approaching footsteps made the child pull away and Jake turn about. He crouched down, ready to attack should the oncoming presence be threatening.

"Hello?" A voice Jake's memory files identified as the lady Toriel called out.

Frisk clung to Jake's side, shaking in fear as Toriel stepped into the chamber, a concerned look on her face. Jake let out a friendly 'woof' indended not only as a greeting to Toriel but to ease the child's fears as well.

"Oh, my!" Toriel said, slowly approaching and kneeling to speak with the child. "I heard you cry out, child. Are you all right?"

Frisk only hugged Jake more tightly. Jake was puzzled by this; Toriel was the child's mother, was she not?

"It's all right." Toriel said, extending a hand. "I mean you no harm. I'm Toriel, child. What is your name?"

Frisk reluctantly removed her hands from Jake and spelled out her name in sign language.

"I don't understand." Toriel said, her brow furrowing. "Can you not speak, child?"

Frisk's small shoulders sagged, a sad expression on her face. Fortunately, Jake's files included sign language. He raised his monitor so Toriel could see, displaying Frisk's name as well as the sign for each letter.

"Frisk?" She said, looking from Jake to Frisk and signing the letters as well as she could with her big hands. When Frisk beamed and nodded, Toriel gave a small chuckle and said, "I see. And who is your impressive machine friend here?"

Frisk looked uncertain, but Jake turned to face her, displaying his name in sign language in case the child could not hear. She signed his name back, to which he nodded and turned to Toriel so she could see it as well.

"Jake." Toriel said, nodding. "You are her friend?"

Jake let out an affirmative bark. Toriel giggled and gave the top of his monitor a gentle rub. Frisk hesitated for a moment before reaching out and touching Toriel's hand. She rubbed Toriel's fur, as though reassuring herself that it was real. Toriel didn't stop her; already Jake could see the same motherly look in the bossun woman's eyes he'd noticed back in Ebott.

"You aren't the first human child to fall into the Underground." Toriel said, taking Frisk's hand between her own. "I know you must be so confused right now, but I promise I'll do everything in my power to help-"

Frisk threw her arms around Toriel, hugging her as tightly as she could. Toriel seemed stunned by this for a few moment before slowly smiling and hugging the child back.

"Come, my child." She said once they released. "There is much to show you ... and your friend too, of course."

Frisk didn't resist as Toriel took her hand and led her to the door. Jake followed, but stopped as he reached the doorway. Looking back, he saw the flower staring at him from the small mound of raised earth. It dove back into the dirt before he could let out a bark, but he continued watching the spot until two hands touched his back, one big and furry and the other small.

"Jake?" Toriel asked. "Is something wrong?"

Jake glanced at the spot one more time before shaking his monitor and following Toriel and Frisk out of the room.


	22. Chapter 21 - Magnificence and Humility

**Chapter 21**

 **Magnificence and Humility**

Sans and NegaSans stared at each other for a long silent moment, NegaSans's hand still out to attack. NegaSans's look of satisfaction quickly turned to confusion. Even with the slight differences, Sans's resemblance was unmistakable.

"What is this?" NegaSans demanded. "Some kinda bad joke? You tryin' to make fun of me or somethin'?"

"Joke's on both of us, buddy." Sans said. "Though you wanna have some fun, I bet the two of us could do a number on your Papyrus."

"My Papyrus?" NegaSans shook his head. "Who the hell are you?"

"I think you already figured it out." Sans said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm you, just not the you from here."

NegaSans stared at Sans for a few moments before bursting out into laughter ... ugly, mocking laughter.

"You really think I'm as stupid as you think I look?"

"I dare you to repeat that sentence without screwing it up."

"I said, you're stupid if you're really thinking ..." Grimacing, NegaSans said, "All right, just shut it!"

"Witty retort."

Sans was only just quick enough to sidestep the bones NegaSans sent flying through the space he previously occupied. NegaSans seemed surprised at this, but his surprise quickly turned to annoyance.

"Was it those stupid rabbits?" NegaSans demanded, "Or one of those damn dogs?"

"Cool your bones, buddy." Sans said, raising a hand. "I ain't here to mess with you."

"Oh, so you're saying you just happen to look like an uglier version of me? Yeah, right."

Sans chose to ignore the 'uglier' comment for the moment. "Look, I can explain if you just-"

Sans caught the glimmer of red in NegaSans's eye just in time to throw himself out of the way of a massive blast from NegaSans's Gaster Blaster. As it turned to face him, the skeletal head's mouth open and charging, Sans decided to cut his losses and run toward Waterfall.

"Hey!" NegaSans called out as Sans legged it down the narrow walkway. "Where the hell do you think you're going!"

A NegaBlaster appeared directly in Sans's path, but he'd anticipated such a tactic. He landed on the back of the NegaBlaster before it could finish charging and used his own telekinesis to point it at NegaSans. He left it there just long enough to see the panic in NegaSans's eyes before turning it to a new target.

NegaSans threw himself aside as the NegaBlaster released its charge, blasting his sentry shed into ash. Sans wasted no time; he hit the ground running after the NegaBlaster vanished, heading for Waterfall once again.

It didn't take long for NegaSans to continue his assault. Sans dodged the incoming bones, sensing their approach the same way he could sense his own magical projectiles. Nevertheless, it was clear that NegaSans wasn't playing around. His bones ended in sharpened points, and his aim indicated he was shooting for Sans's head.

It was tempting to try and use a shortcut to escape, but Sans rejected the idea. The unpredictable nature of the shortcuts made it unlikely that NegaSans would be able to use the same one as Sans, but there was another worry; what if the thing that threw Sans from the shortcut that brought him to that universe was there? What if it ... he were waiting for Sans to make that attempt to try and finish him off? Sans narrowly escaped the last time, but the next encounter might not end so favorably for him.

The burning lava streams of the Hotland eventually became the cool streams of Waterfall. Sparks showered over Sans as several bones shattered the glass of the scrolling display that read 'Welcome to Hotland!' in Sans's home universe. There, it simply read 'To Hotland' before NegaSans's bones reduced it to 'Tootland'. Sans was inclined to chuckle at this, but focused on continuing to flee. He wasn't used to running, and already he was starting to reach the limits of his stamina.

Fortunately, a quick glance back at his pursuer revealed that NegaSans was having trouble as well. Sweat rolled across his skull, already staining the front of NegaSans's shirt. Fewer and fewer bones chased Sans as they crossed the bridge and passed through the opening in the side of a large stalagmite into a field of echo glowers. Another glance back showed Sans that he'd gained quite a bit of ground.

The sight of the luminous blue flowers of gave Sans an idea. He cupped his hands around his mouth to muffle his voice and shouted at one of the echo flowers poking over the side of the path. Hearing the sounds of NegaSans approaching, Sans hurried down the path. Sure enough, NegaSans came running down the path a few moments later in an awkward gait until, one hand hitching up the back of his track shorts.

"Get ... back here ..." He panted as he lumbered down the path.

"Hey! Bone-head!" Sans's voice shouted from the echo-flower. NegaSans turned in surprise, giving Sans time to take aim and fire a single bone. The bone hit NegaSans in the back of his head with a loud 'donk', sending him crashing into the Echo Flower.

Sans approached his fallen alternate self slowly, feeling a little guilty. Given his own fragility, he'd been careful to make his shot as weak as he could manage to avoid outright killing NegaSans; even so, he was surprised at how fast NegaSans fell, and was relieved when he heard snoring.

Sans wiped the sweat from his skull as he considered his options. This reality was definitely not a place he'd want to call home; he needed to get back to Glen, but to do that, he'd need to find a way to leave this reality. His only real clue as to how to do that was the mysterious rune Glen showed him. Things in his current reality were different, but maybe not completely; with any luck, NegaSans had a secret basement in his house as well, where he kept a certain machine that might hold the key to shifting between realities.

Sans moved his other self deeper into the field of echo flowers, just in case his cranky brother or the purportedly lazy Undyne happened by. While NegaSans was just a bit too quick on the trigger for Sans's liking, what little he'd seen of this dimension made it clear it was not a nice place. Sans himself would likely run into trouble, especially given the differences between him and NegaSans.

His eyes fell on NegaSans's coat and sneakers, his grin spreading as an idea formed in his mind.

Glen was wheezing as she came to a halt by yet another sentry station. Papyrus was already looking around the station.

"He should be here by now." Papyrus sat fretfully. "Maybe we should go back to the Waterfall."

Glen fell to the ground, her back hitting the side of the sentry station. Papyrus paused, concern in his eye-sockets. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah." Glen said, trying to keep herself from blacking out. "Just need a quick breath, that's all."

Papyrus hesitated for a moment before taking the stool from the station and bringing it to Glen.

"Thanks." Glen said as the skeleton helped her to the stool. "Damn, you've got stamina."

"Yeah, well ... someone's gotta keep an eye on the little ball of energy. I just whatever trouble he's gotten into is-"

"Sorry, Paps, I've been trying to tell ya." Glen said, "Your Sans is probably fine."

"My Sans?" Papyrus said, giving him a curious look.

"Yeah." Glen took a deep breath. "I'm from another dimension. That's why I recognize you; you look pretty much the same as my Papyrus."

Papyrus let out a sigh of relief. "I see; so when you said Sans was in trouble, you meant the Sans from your dimension."

"Yes. Well, no; he's from a different dimension."

"I see ... and you both just go hopping around other dimensions?"

"It's ..." Glen sighed and rubbed her forehead. "It's complicated."

"I'll bet." Papyrus sat down on the counter of the sentry station and pulled out his pack of cigarettes again. He pulled one out for himself before offering the box to Glen, but she shook her head; the last thing she needed at the moment was a cigarette. Shrugging, Papyrus lit up.

Realizing that he was waiting for her to start talking, Glen asked, "Where should I start?"

"Well, your name would be nice. You already know mine; it only seems fair I should know yours."

Glen chuckled and nodded. "Fair enough. Glenda Adams Soleil; just call me Glen."

"All right, Glen." Papyrus said, shaking her hand. "So how did you end up in my neck of the woods, so to speak?"

"Rescue mission." Glen told him. "I'm from a reality where the barrier's gone and monsters live on the surface; I was heading to the Underground to find a monster who was apparently left behind in the form of a yellow flower, but-"

"You're looking for a flowey?" Papyrus said, giving her a curious look. Shaking his head, he said, "Sorry. Go ahead."

"Well, we were heading down here when Alphys detected some kind of distortion wave heading out of the Underground. Most of us managed to get back to the surface, but my robot dog friend and I got caught in the wave." Glen paused, worry filling her as she remembered Jake. Given the fact he wasn't found with her, Glen guessed he ended up in a different dimension along with Sans.

Shaking her head, she continued, "I ended up in a dimension where Sans was one of the few monsters still alive. When I explained the situation, he said he had an idea and used one of his shortcuts to bring us ... well, somewhere. I don't know where he was taking us; we were attacked in midstream by ... something."

"Something?"

Glen let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead. "It was hard to make out, and I only got a look at it for a few seconds as Sans fought it off. I know it sounds strange, but it looked glitchy."

"Glitchy?"

"Yeah. You ever play video games?"

Papyrus pulled a battered old Gameboy from one of his coat pockets. "All the time, but don't tell my brother."

"Ever pull the cartridge out in the middle of a game and the graphics get all corrupted? The thing fighting Sans looked like that; all ... corrupted. Like a graphical glitch. Reminded me a bit of my Weave-running days."

Seeing Papyrus's questioning look, Glen said, "Long story. Whatever the thing was, it tossed me out of the shortcut. The next thing I remember is waking up here."

Papyrus didn't say anything for at least a minute. He simply smoked his cigarette and looked thoughtful.

"So." Glen said, standing up. "Do you think I'm lying? Some crazy human from the surface?"

"I don't think you're lying." Papyrus said slowly. "Though I get the impression the 'crazy human' part's probably accurate."

"Gee, thanks." Glen said, unable to suppress a grin.

Papyrus chuckled. "Hey, I call it as I see it. Still, the idea of something hiding in a shortcut's a bit worrying ... almost as worrying as the idea of Sans using a shortcut in the firstplace. My brother can be a bit ... troublesome."

"Troublesome?"

Papyrus opened his mouth to respond when a loud cry of "Brother!" shot through the air. Skeleton and Dreamer turned to see the approach of a short skeleton wearing a gray tunic and a blue scarf. It was clearly Sans, but this one looked younger than either of the other Sanses Glen encountered.

"Brother!" This new Sans said with a surprising amount of energy. "There you are! I've been looking for you!"

"Oh?" Papyrus said, slouching back against the sentry post. "What's up, bro?"

"Amazing news! I heard from some people in town that a human has been spotted in the area!"

Papyrus glanced at Glenda with an amused expression. "Really? That's cool, bro."

"It certainly is!" Sans said, stars appearing in the center of his blue eyes. "This is my chance to prove myself! When I capture the human, Alphys will make me part of the Royal Guard!"

"Hey, maybe my new friend can help you." Papyrus said, patting Glen on the back. "This is Glen."

"Nice to meetcha, Glen!" Sans said, puffing out his ribs and offering a blue-gloved hand. "I'm the Magnificent Sans, soon to be the newest member of the Royal Guard!"

Glen didn't reply; she simply stared. With this Sans's clothes, the slightly smaller size, and the strange excitement, he looked less like Sans and more like a young boy pretending to be a knight.

"You are so ... so ..." She gave up and rose to her feet, picking up the prospective Royal Guard and giving him a big hug. "-so adorable!"

"Ahh!" Sans said, struggling to free himself. "Put me down! The Magnificent Sans doesn't have to stand for this! Brother, help me!"

"Sorry, bro." Papyrus said, lighting up another cigarette. "But she does have a point."

Sans struggled for a few more moments before Glen finally remembered herself and set him back on the ground.

"I protest! I am not a sack of potatoes, Miss Glen!" Sans fumed, blue eyes narrowed at Glen as he stamped his little blue boots against the ground in a way that nearly overwhelmed Glen's cute tolerance.

Fighting the urge to let out a squee, Glen said, "I'm sorry, Sans ... er, can I call you Sans, or do you prefer Magnificent?"

Two blue splotches appeared on Sans's cheekbones. "Magnificent, eh? I think I'd like that."

"Well, I'm glad to meet you, Magnificent." Glen said.

"Likewise, Miss Glen." his eyes widened. "Oh! The human! They'll be here any minute! Say, Miss Glen, would you mind helping us catch the human?"

"Uh ..." Glen glanced at Papyrus, who nodded emphatically. "Er, sure. I'd love to help."

"Awesome! With all three of us watching, we'll catch it for sure!"

With that, the Magnificent Sans took off running in the direction of Snowdin.

Papyrus ground out the remains of his cigarette before slowly walking down the path leading further away from Snowdin. Glen hurried to catch up, asking, "Wait! How did he not recognize me as a human?"

"Oh, well he's never really seen a human before." Papyrus said. "Not many of your kind find their ways down here."

"And those that do?"

Papyrus slowed to a halt and let out a sigh. "Those that do usually don't make it past Alphys. I can take you to Flowey Village if you want, but if Alphys catches sight of you, she won't stop until either your dead or she is."

"Alphys." Glen repeated. "Little lizard woman scientist Alphys"

"Lizard? Yeah. Woman? Debatable. Scientist? Definitely not." Papyrus let out a little chuckle. "I think I need to give you a little tour of the Underground before we go human-hunting ... but first we're gonna need to make a stop before you run into someone who does recognize humans on sight. Fortunately, I have just the thing."


	23. Chapter 22 - True to Self

**Chapter 22**

 **True to Self**

Grillby's was the best (and only) restaurant in Snowdin, as well as Sans's home away from home. It was a place where everyone knew him and said hello when he entered, where Grillby himself and sometimes his daughter Fuku would greet him personally and set out a container of ketchup for the friendly skeleton the moment he stepped through the door. While he had work ahead, Sans's little flight and fight with NegaSans left him hungry, so he decided to stop in for a bite.

He could tell something was wrong the moment he opened the door. For one, there were only a few people there; usually the place was packed. It was the only restaurant in town, after all.

It wasn't just the lack of clientele, however; the bar was, to put it bluntly, a bit of a dump: dirty dishes lay on tables, the floor was badly in need of a good sweeping (or perhaps liberal application of fire magic), and the chairs looked one sit away from becoming firewood. This surprised Sans, as his Grillby was always clean to the point of meticulous. Then again, the Grillby of that universe didn't even look the same; his flame was a deep purple, and a twisted wide smile spread what passed as his face.

The moment Sans stepped into the main room, all conversation stopped. Grillby continued polishing a glass with a bit of flame-retardant cloth as though nothing had happened, but everyone else turned to look at Sans.

Sans approached the bar with the intention of taking his usual seat, but froze as Grillby met his gaze, the glass in Grillby's hand partially molten. Deciding that perhaps caution would be better, Sans took a seat at the cleanest booth.

This whole dimension was wrong. Sans never thought he'd prefer his own doomed reality, yet even a life alone seemed worse than the thick air of oppression that seemed to permeate everything. It was so close to the Snowdin he was used to, yet so different that it felt alien to him.

He told himself that it wasn't his problem; his goal was to get out of this place, not fix its problems.

"Um ... g-good day, M-m-mister Sans ..."

Sans glanced up into the nervous eyes of Fuku, Grillby's daughter. Her flame was a light blue instead of soft green, but other than that, she was identical to the fire girl Grillby raised from an ember.

"Hey, Fuku." Sans said, giving her a smile. "I'm kinda in a hurry, so I'll just take some ketchup."

"K-ketchup?" Fuku said, sounding surprised. "B-but I thought m-mustard ..."

"Fuku." Grillby said sharply.

"No, it's all right, Grillby." Sans said, a little alarmed at the stern look he shot his daughter. To Fuku, he said, "I'm tryin' to liven up my culinary pallet. Y'know, a little ketchup today, some horseradish tomorrow, maybe even moving on to a nice hollandaise one day."

"W-we do have some Worcestershire sauce, if you want to try it." She said.

"Worcestershire sauce? Are you crazy?"

She immediately blushed and lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry ... p-please don't be mad."

Sighing, Sans said, "Relax, Fuku; I'm just kiddin' with ya."

Her eyes opened wide. "Oh. Oh! R-right. Sorry."

"That's all right." he said, giving her a kind smile. "Ketchup will be fine; maybe an order of fries for dessert?"

"Of course!" She said, bobbing her head at him with the ghost of a smile on her face. "I'll have it out immediately!"

"Eh, I'm in no rush." Sans said, leaning back in the booth. "Take your time. I got some thinkin' to do."

He watched her hurry off, feeling a little sad. She was terrified, and not just of him. Was Grillby not the loving father he was in Sans's world? Just what the hell was wrong with this place?

The other patrons were whispering amongst themselves now. There was a definite note of accusation to their murmurings that left Sans feeling uneasy. He thought to the words of the other NegaPapyrus, specifically the part about them needing the protection brought by being associated with the Royal Guard.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Fuku's return until she set a red ketchup container and a small basket of greasy fries on the table in front of him.

"Thanks." He said, fishing in the pocket of his track pants for some money.

"No charge." She said, waving her hands and backing away.

"You sure?" Sans said, "I know my tab's gotta be somethin' crazy by now."

"D-don't worry about it." She said before hurrying back to the bar.

Shrugging, Sans turned his attention to his food. The fries were only half-cooked, making them both soggy and incredibly greasy. Fortunately, he was more interested in the ketchup.

His thoughts turned to the machine hidden beneath the house he shared with his brother. He'd stopped by the house on his way to Grillby's just to make sure the hidden door was there and that his key worked. He'd only taken a quick glance inside, and sure enough, the giant machine still lay in the corner, hidden under a large sheet.

The machine never worked properly; the rune fragment Glen identified as the 'Inverse Harmonius' vanished before he'd managed to turn it on, making the whole machine useless. If enough of a trace remained, however, perhaps Sans could alter Glen's dimensional analyzer to find it. From there ... well, he didn't know. Glen said it had the power to allow the user to shift between dimensions, but would a fragment of it be enough?

When the ketchup bottle was empty and a polite amount of fries were gone, Sans glanced around for Fuku for a moment. The other patrons were staring at him now, anger in more than one monster's face ... but not Grillby. While his expression was never easy to divine given he was living flame, Sans knew him well enough to realize that the fiery bartender had a calculating expression.

"Yeah, probably time to go." He said, rising from his seat. He dug in his pockets and eventually found a few gold coins to leave Fuku as a tip. Flipping one final coin to Grillby, Sans said, "Thanks for the grub."

Grillby caught the coin and stared at it, his face registering shock. Figuring NegaSans had an even bigger tab than Sans had at his Grillby's, NegaSans smiled and waved at the other patrons before leaving the restaurant.

Walking through Snowdin was an uncomfortable experience. Sans could feel the hateful glances of others following him as he made his way back to his house. Even the rabbit-people, normally the friendliest folk in town, looked at him with utter disdain. More angry muttering followed him. When turning to face the speakers, Sans was surprised to see looks of fear mingled with loathing on the faces of people that had been friends in his world. Unsure how to respond to this, he simple focused on his path and ignored the other townsfolk.

No one came close to the skeleton brother's house, likely due to the large ash pile where their mailboxes stood in Sans's home dimension. Sans was pretty sure he knew the source, though he allowed himself the delusion that the ash was from a bonfire and wasn't in fact the remains of his fellow monsters. Fortunately, the lack of people even remotely nearby made it easy for him to slip behind the house and through the hidden door.

Locking the door behind him, Sans quickly pulled off NegaSans's coat and tossed it on the floor before approaching the machine. He grabbed the sheet and pulled it off with a single tug.

There it was: the machine. It's purpose was simple; bypass the barrier via teleportation. In theory, it was simple; the machine created a hole in reality that bridged a point inside the Underground to a point on the surface. The technology was viable; they'd created smaller holes successfully. Unfortunately, creating a portal big enough for even a small monster needed a massive amount of power.

That's when they discovered the rune. Frozen in crystal deep in the Underground, the simple lines resonated incredible power, far more than even the Core. It seemed to be the answer to all their prayers ... until ...

Sans shook his head. Despite the inevitable guilt, it hadn't been his fault. Unfortunately, when he tried to use the machine to rectify the situation, the rune mysteriously vanished, leaving it essentially broken. Only an echo remained, but any magic powerful enough to tear through dimensions must leave an imprint on reality; he just needed to provide the power.

He opened the housing that still held the chunk of crystal, the lines of the former rune still visible within the transparent mineral. The rune was gone, but the imprint was still there; perhaps that would be enough.

Sans took the crystal in both hand and channeled his magical energy into the recesses formerly occupied by the rune. After a few moments, the lines glowed faintly with his power. Unfortunately, when he stopped concentrating, the light faded within seconds. He tried again, focusing as much energy as he could muster into the gem. As the light of the rune grew brighter, Sans felt something ... a strange awareness that he couldn't put into words. He was still in the laboratory, yet he could feel other laboratories occupying the same place. Some were identical, others were different, and yet all occupied places that were both there and anywhere but there at the same time.

"Other realities." He breathed, his eyes seeing beyond his current dimension. "Glen wasn't kidding. There must be millions of them!"

His concentration slipped a little, the rune dimming and with it his awareness. He gripped the crystal with both hands, sweat sliding down his skull as he tried to focus more magical energy into the rune. It worked ... for a few moments. He felt the walls between realities growing thinner, not thin enough to travel, but definitely growing closer.

Then he felt her; Glen's aura, buried deep within the limitless dimensions. He could almost make out her face as she walked beside a tall figure that looked like Papyrus. Seeing his brother, still different but not as different as the horror of his current dimension, made him reach out to desperately claw at the thinning boundary between the dimensions.

Unfortunately, Sans's stamina was already at its limit; so much magic use left him dizzy, and in moments he fell to the floor gasping for breath. The rune faded in a matter of moments, leaving him once again stuck where he was.

"D-damn." He said, struggling to stop himself from passing out. His theory had been correct, but he needed far more power to strengthen the rune enough to travel between realities.

He felt a little discouraged, but he quickly swept the feeling aside. He felt confident he had a way out now; perhaps he could hook the rune into the Core, or get something from Alphys's Lab.

The sounds of muffled shouting pulled him from his thoughts. There was a crowd somewhere not far from the house, and they did not sound happy. Sans quickly slipped the crystal into the pocket of his blue coat before slipping back into the heavy black coat of NegaSans.

He cracked the door open to see a crowd massing beside his and Papyrus's house. No one was looking his way, so he quickly slipped out of his secret workshop and locked the door behind him before approaching the crowd to see what the fuss was about.

NegaPapyrus was standing beside the ash pile, peering out amongst the crowd.

"Hurry up!" He snapped as more monsters joined the throng. "I called this meeting an hour ago, and you're just showing up now? You're all worse than my lazy excuse for a brother!"

Feeling a bit annoyed at his alternate version's brother's attitude, Sans called out, "Hey, we all got things to do, bro. Why not throw us a bone?"

All talking stopped. Everyone turned and stared at Sans, who suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious.

"What?" NegaPapyrus said, eyes flaring orange. "What did you say?"

Monsters were looking at him; most still gave him looks of hate, but there was a strange hope in some of their eyes. Feeling bolstered by this, Sans said, "I'm just sayin' we're all here. You don't have tibia jerk about it, y'know."

A few titters ran through the crowd as NegaPapyrus's eye sockets narrowed.

"Very well." NegaPapyrus said, his voice dangerously quiet. "Then we'll begin ... unless my brother has any more 'hilarious' jokes to inflict upon us."

"Sorry, bro." Sans said, grinning widely. "Didn't mean to rattle your bones."

A few monsters laughed at that one, only to fall silent as NegaPapyrus glared at them. He slowly paced around the pile of ash, as everyone stared in silence. They knew what it meant to be called to the ash pile, where so many of their own had been executed.

"I've called this meeting because someone in Snowdin is not who they appear to be." NegaPapyrus paused a moment to glare at Sans. Sans stared right back at him, not letting his smile slide a single inch.

"Someone here is a thief and a traitor." NegaPapyrus continued, resuming his pacing. "Our king has labored for ages, yet even now as we stand on the brink of freedom, there are still those who would spit on his efforts. We owe our king everything! Our allegiance, our obedience, even our very souls should it become necessary ... and yet I have discovered that there are some here who have lied to Undyne and myself. Lying to a member of the Royal Guard is as bad as lying to the King himself, and will not go unpunished!"

The crowd was silent as NegaPapyrus slowly came to a halt and stared again at Sans. Sans was careful not to give anything away with his expression even as he channeled his magic. If his cover was blown, he'd have to make every shot count. Hopefully, the crowd wouldn't side with the tyrant who was NegaPapyrus.

Just as he prepared to release a barrage of bones, NegaPapyrus spun about and grabbed Fuku's arm. Flames danced across NegaPapyrus's gauntlet as Fuku fought to free herself, but NegaPapyrus hurled her onto the pile of ash.

"W-what have I done?" She asked, trying desperately to get off the pile of ash only to be blocked by a fence of blue bones that rose from the ground around her.

NegaPapyrus held up a golden coin. "All citizens were required to exchange their gold for Liberation Bonds in preparation of the upcoming war with the surface. Gold is a perfect material for the magical augmentation gear necessary for us to match the strength of human souls, yet you were discovered attempting to purchase ... a dress." He said the last words with a sneer of pure contempt. "Not only did you disobey the king, but you did so for a luxury item."

"But ... but I-I didn't-"

Fuku gasped as NegaPapyrus lifted her from the ground by her throat. "Don't lie to me, girl! You are going to die, but test my patience again, and I will guarantee your death will be slow and painful!"

"Don't touch her, you bastard!" Grillby, apparantly just as protective as his daughter as his counterpart in Sans's home dimension, rushed at NegaPapyrusm only to be slammed to the ground. NegaPapyrus's eyes flared as a long blade made of bone appeared in his hand.

"Assaulting a member of the Royal Guard is an act of treason!" He snarled before raising his blade.

Sans shouldn't get involved. Even admitting that it was his fault, the gold in question no doubt being that which he'd given, not realizing what would happen. He needed to keep a low profile so he could get to the Core or to Alphys's lab and power up the crystal. Causing a scene here would just complicate matters.

As he watched Grillby's eyes widen, as Fuku screamed for her father and the rest of the crowd shouted in rage, Sans finally accepted the truth. His friends were dead. His brother was dead. Everything he knew was dead and gone; even if he found another reality where everyone was alive, it would never be truly the same. It wasn't the kid's fault, be they Frisk, Chara, or even Asriel Dremurr. It was his; he knew what they were the moment they left the Ruins, the dust on the kid's clothes no doubt that of his mysterious joke-loving friend. He knew, and even though he had the power to stop them then and there, he did nothing. He let her kill Papyrus, Undyne, and everyone else he ever knew, allowing the kid to grow stronger to the point that they were unstoppable. After so many resets, he'd just stopped caring.

He couldn't afford not to care anymore.

Sans raised his hand, blue light flaring from his eye as his telekinesis tore the bone blade from NegaPapyrus's grasp and threw it against the nearest tree with enough force to crack the bark.

NegaPapyrus rounded on Sans, eyes flaring. "Sans!" He barked. "This is no time for your stupid jokes!"

"The only joke here is you, Pap." Sans stepping forward as the crowd parted before him. "I gave them the gold."

NegaPapyrus's eyes widened as a gasp ran through the crowd. "You? But where did you come by gold?"

"Mostly from Waterfall." Sans said truthfully. "People dropped all kinds of stuff in the water there. I picked it up, gave it to Grillby and Fuku to pay for lunch, end of story."

Stopping a few feet from NegaPapyrus, Sans held his arms out to either side. "So you gonna try and punish me?"

There was a definite change in the crowd. NegaPapyrus was speechless; it was clear to Sans that his double had never dared try standing up to him.

"Brother." NegaPapyrus said in a low tone. "If you're just trying to protect Grillby-"

"You're damn right I'm trying to protect him. I'm trying to protect everyone; that's what we're supposed to be doin', Pap." Sans said, taking a shot in the dark. "That's why you wanted to be a Royal Guard. So what the hell happened? When did we go from protecting Snowdin to terrorizing it?"

For a few moments, Sans thought he'd been wrong about NegaPapyrus. Despite their differences, maybe there was something of his Papyrus in the twisted monster standing before him. He realized he was wrong as an ugly look fell over NegaPapyrus's skull.

"How dare you." He said softly. "How dare you undermine my authority, you useless sack of bones!"

He remanifested his bone blade, the original vanishing from the tree. He turned back to Grillby only for Sans to knock the blade out of his hands with a well-aimed bone.

There was fury in NegaPapyrus's eyes now as the crowd fanned out away from the ensuing fight. "You dare stand against me?"

"I won't let you kill innocent people." Sans said, more bones manifesting around him in case he needed to defend himself.

"Innocent? No one here is innocent! This is a town of traitors, liars, and enemies of the state, and I will do what is necessary to follow my orders ... through you if need be."

"Then you'd better get ready to have a bad time." Sans said, tensing in anticipation of the coming fight.

For a moment, it looked like a battle was inevitable. NegaPapyrus drew his energy back from the field surrounding Fuku, allowing her to rejoin her father and quickly lead him into the waiting crowd.

Sans and NegaPapyrus circled around each other, NegaPapyrus brandishing his bone blade and a circle of bones slowly spinning around Sans.

Just as NegaPapyrus tensed and Sans prepared to let loose with a barrage of magical bones, a faintly familiar voice shouted, "Papyrus! Sans!"

The skeleton brothers turned to see Mettaton approaching from the direction of Waterfall. Unlike Sans's Mettaton, this version had four arms and an extra set of eyes, and seemed a lot more suited to combat.

"Papyrus!" Mettaton said, saluting as he drew near. "Urgent message from Alphys!"

Sans tensed; Alphys had eyes everywhere. Did she know about Sans? For that matter, had the other Sans awoken? Fortunately, the message had nothing to do with him.

"She's picked up signs of a human escaping the ruins!" Mettaton said.

"A human?" NegaPapyrus said eagerly, lowering his blade. "She is certain?"

"Yes! They're heading this way!" Mettaton told him.

"Excellent!" NegaPapyrus said, bone blade vanishing. "Send word to Undyne that we'll have the human within the hour, robot!"

Mettaton didn't seem happy about being referred to so dismissively, but departed without another word.

"The rest of you wretches prepare to capture the human should it pass my brother and myself!" NegaPapyrus said. "Now get out of here!"

The crowd needed no further urging. Soon, Sans and NegaPapyrus were alone beside their house. Sans continued to watch his brother cautiously, uncertain and definitely not willing to turn his back to him.

"This matter is not closed, Sans." NegaPapyrus said, not looking at his brother. "But for now, I expect you to use your newfound spine to find and capture this human. Perhaps if you can secure it before me, I will be willing to forgive your recent transgression ... but if you get in my way, don't think for a moment that I will hesitate to kill you."

NegaPapyrus strode toward the Ruins without waiting for a reply, leaving Sans alone by the pile of ash.


	24. Chapter 23 - Garamond

**Chapter 23**

 **Garamond**

Papyrus lowered his cigarette as Garamond stepped out of his room wearing the disguise he'd given her.

"Not bad." He said, nodding in approval. "I mean, it won't fool anyone who looks too close, but the average monster'll just write you off as a fellow bone-head."

Glen was less assurred. While the mask Pap crafted certainly looked skeletal, painting her visible skin white did not in any way give her a bone-like appearance. The hair was particularly telling, but she couldn't bring herself to shave it off. As a result, she looked more like someone in costume than an actual skeleton.

"At least I'm ready for Halloween." She muttered as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Halloween?"

"Long story." Sighing, she said, "Are you sure about this?"

"Trust me." He said, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "No one will suspect a thing."

She followed him out of the house, once again bemoaning her lack of experience with her Dreamer abilities. She knew some Dreamers were capable of shapeshifting, an ability that would have been incredibly useful, but she didn't dare attempt it without a more controlled environment. The effects on an unsuccessful shape-change were ... well, not pleasant.

Her disguise worked, however; people barely spared her and Papyrus a second glance as the Dreamer and skeleton walked to the edge of town. Glen was quite surprised at this; while her humanity escaped Magnificent, surely some of the monsters in town realized what she was. Rahnna certainly knew; were they keeping silent for some reason? If so, why bother with the disguise?

Her concerns about her disguise faded when Papyrus led her to the saccharine nightmare that was Flowey Village. Her visit was not very long, thankfully.

Papyrus waved at her as she quickly hurried away from the village of smiling yellow plantlife and returned to the path. "Howdy."

"Not funny." Glen said, glaring at him. "You could've warned me."

"And ruin the surprise?" He said in a tone of mock shock. "Never."

Glen rubbed her eyes, trying to get the image of a dozen smiling flower faces out of her head. Their sickeningly cheery grins would follow her into her dreams, she was sure of it.

"Did you have a word with Ragel?"

"Was Ragel was the yodelling blue flower?"

"Got it in one."

Glen stared at Papyrus for a moment longer before letting out a chuckle. "Okay, I admit it; you got me. Still, I was kinda hoping that I'd get some more information on Asriel for whenever I manage to get back to my own reality."

"Asriel?" Papyrus said, sounding surprised. "He's connected to the Floweys?"

"Well, as far as I know, there's only one in my dimension." Glen said. "Apparently he was killed and brought back by accident in the form of a flower ... Flowey."

Papyrus stared at Glen for a few moments before motioning her to follow. "C'mon; there's someone you should meet."

Waterfall was a peaceful place; the soothing sound of running water was audible everywhere, and the soft glow of the EchoShrooms was soothing to Glen's eyes. They moved at a leisurely pace through the peaceful caverns as Papyrus asked Glen questions about her home reality. She answered everything; it was hard not to. Papyrus was an old friend, and this Papyrus with his almost Sans-like easygoing nature was impossible not to like. He listened well for his part, only interrupting with the occasional question.

All conversation stopped as they entered massive chamber that seemed to stretch across the entire underground. Glowing crystals on the walls and ceiling gave the illusion of a night sky, but it was the view of New Home and the towering Castle Dreemurr in the distance that left Glen breathless.

"Wait for it." Papyrus said, holding up a hand.

A few moments passed with no result. Just as Glen opened her mouth to say something, however, the first sliver of light fell from the crystal-laden ceiling above them. It was joined by another moments later, and then another ... and yet another. Soon, tiny beams of light fell through the air like sparkly rain, showering everything in the cavern with their magical light.

"Whoa." She whispered, staring at the distant castle as the shower of light imbued it and the other buildings with a strange glow. "Now that's somethin' worth seeing."

"It sure is." Papyrus agreed. "Really jawbone dropping."

After a moment of silence, Glen commented, "I'd heard monsters talking about the Underground. Some are even moving back in my reality; I'd didn't really get why until now. What you people did down here is amazing."

Papyrus accepted the compliment with a slow nod.

They stared in silence for a full minute before Papyrus shook his head and said, "We should probably get going."

"Yeah." Glen said, reluctantly turning her eyes from the spectacle.

They continued on for a good ways, walking across the many wooden platforms over the tranquil waters of Waterfall.

"This place look different from your Waterfall?" Papyrus asked curiously.

"Don't know." Glen said truthfully. "Never been down here. I arrived in Ebott back when the barrier was still up, a few hundred years after the war. People already thought mosnters were just legends at that point, though they had a healthy fear of the mountain. Used to say people going up the mountain would disappear forever."

"Huh. You strike me as the type who'd take that as a challenge."

Chuckling, Glen said, "Yeah, you're right. Thing is, I didn't come to Ebott looking for trouble; I just needed a place to stop and rest a bit. One thousand years of wandering ... well, even a gung-ho troublemaker like me gets to wanting something more steady. Besides, I had a project I wanted to work on to help me get around easier ... a shortcut of my own, so to speak."

"Yeah, I hope you don't expect me to let that one go."

Grinning, Glen said, "When you've got as much time to kill as I do, Earth just isn't enough. It's a big universe, and I figured I'd go and see everything; For once in my life, I have the time. Now I can teleport; it's shaky over long distances, but I generally get where I'm going. Problem is, I can't just zip anywhere; teleportation only works when I've been somewhere before, when I can envision it in my mind. I'm guessing your 'shortcuts' work the same way."

"Pretty much." Papyrus said.

"Which is why you can't just teleport out of here. It's why even I can't teleport out of here; I don't know what's outside that barrier anymore than you do. Oh, there's a chance it's basically the same as it is in one of the other dimensions I've visited, but there's also chance I'd teleport myself into solid rock. To go to other planets, other galaxies, I needed transport ... transport that Earth won't have for decades, maybe centuries."

"So ... what? You were building a ship?"

"At first." Glen said, "But then I got to thinking; ships need fuel. Ships can get damaged. Ships can be destroyed. I wanted something quicker, so I started working on the CPD."

"CPD?"

"Conveniently-Placed Door."

"Nice."

Glen nodded her head at the compliment. "Think about it; a door with one end anchored here, and one end that could be used to appear on other worlds."

"But you said yourself you can't teleport somewhere unless you've been there."

"True." Glen said, "But there's always the possibility that I did. Think about it; if I picked up a door and straight up flew through the cosmos ... and yes, I can do that, though not particularly quickly ... I could put that door anywhere given enough time. Normally that wouldn't mean anything, but if I could harness that probability at will ... well, I'd be able to adventure across the universe as easily as walking into a room."

"Amazing." Papyrus said, pulling out another cigarette. "So did it work?"

"Not at the time. However, it was the Sans from my dimension who-"

A loud roar enchoed through the cavern behind them, stopping Glen in mid-sentance. It hard to guage the distance with the sound echoing off the cavern walls, but it was certainly loud enough to give Glen pause.

"Crap." Papyrus muttered, "I guess it was too much to hope she'd take a day off."

"She who?" Glen asked.

"Alphys. Strange; it's not time for her patrol. I wonder what's got her so ..." Papyrus looked at Glen, alarm in his eyes. "Wait a minute; my brother said a human had been sighted."

"Yes, and he didn't even bat an eye at me." Glen replied, grinning at the memory of the cute little blueberry that was the Magnificent Sans.

"Exactly. I thought he was talking about you, but what if he wasn't? What if there is another human in the underground?"

"Hell of a coincidence." Glen stopped, realization finally hitting her. "Frisk."

Papyrus stared at her. "You know who it is?"

"I think so." Glen said. "In my home dimension, Frisk was the human who broke the barrier and freed the monsters."

"Broke the ... really? That's fantastic!" Papyrus said, his sudden excitement reminding Glen strongly of her Papyrus.

"Maybe not." She said. "In the last dimension I was in, she killed most of the monsters in the Underground. Went from the Ruins to Castle Dremurr slaughtering anyone in her way."

"She killed them? Then ... my dreams ..." Papyrus's skull managed to turn even whiter. "Sans! He's probably at his post just outside the Ruins! If this Frisk is set on Genocide ..."

Eyes glowing, Papyrus took off running at a speed even Glen's Papyrus would've had difficulty matching. Unfortunately, Glen couldn't even come close. She tried to call out to him, but despite her best efforts to keep up, he was soon out of sight. A slight prickling sensation of her rune told her he'd just slipped into a shortcut, likely headed to find his brother.

Glen considered her options; part of her wanted to teleport back to Snowdin and assist; if Frisk was good, all the better. If Frisk was possessed, Glen could catch her and maybe drive the ichor out of her before anyone else suffered.

On the other hand, it wasn't her world. It was a cold view, but long ago she'd realized that sometimes she had to prioritize one problem over another, and not fall into the trap of trying to fix everything. She was in a strange dimension with no idea where the Sans from the previous dimension and Jake might be, and was no closer to finding and recovering either the fragment of the Inverse harmonius or J-27's Asriel.

Another roar prompted her into motion. With a final glance back in the direction of the roars, she ran down the dimly lit path.

While no match for Papyrus in terms of speed, from the decreasing volume of the roars, Glen was certain she was faster than Alphys. The idea of the bumbling anime-loving lizard woman stomping through the caverns was ludicrous at best ... but given everything else different in this universe, Glen thought caution a prudent choice.

Her retreat led her to a series of smaller chambers, many with houses. It was in appearance a small town, a single cavern with a lake linking them to a cavern filled with what looked like garbage from the surface. Avoiding the houses for the time being, Glen hurried into the junkyard, her eyes open for old newspapers. Given all the differences she'd encountered thus far, she really wanted some idea of what the surface was like.

Fortunately, she didn't have to look for very long. While there were no newspapers, she did manage to find an old tablet computer. The screen was cracked and the battery dead, but Glen had enough experience fixing her own tablet back home (usually after inadvertantly sitting on it) to use her Dreamer abilities to restore it to perfect functionality and augment its wi-fi capabilities enough to connect to a satellite. It wasn't a great connection; the barrier probably didn't make things any easier. Still, after a few false starts, she managed to find a familiar news site.

Oddly enough, there was no mention of the Systems Alliance. Most of the big seemed to be about restoration efforts on major cities following Earth's overthrow of some alien group known as the Combine. While most stories didn't go into detail, the names 'Gordan Freeman' and 'Alyx Vance' came up a few times. Still, on the whole, it seemed like the surface was relatively peaceful.

"That's something, at least." Glen murmured as she continued moving through the Junkyard.

Another shout sounded, this one far too close for Glen's comfort. She looked up from the datapad to find a pair of green eyes staring at her.

"Gah!" She said, almost dropping the datapad.

"Aaah!" The eyes vanished as the little robed figure disappeared in the mess of the junkyard.

Glen started to follow when she heard a deep voice shout, "HALT!"

She froze in place as heavy footsteps approached her from behind with frightening quickness. She slowly turned to find herself face to face with a short lizard-woman wearing partial plate mail and carrying a surprisingly large axe. Her scales were yellow, and she appeared more than a bit on the thick side, but that was where the similarities with any Alphys Glen ever encountered ended. This Alphys's thickness wasn't flab, it was muscle; hard, toned muscle that reminded Glen of the naturally hardy dwarves. She didn't wear glasses; in fact, one of her eyes was permanently shut, a large jagged scar crossing her face and eyelid.

She grinned at Glen, her sharpened teeth and the near maniacal glint in her eye doing little to calm Glen's nerves. "And who might you be?"

Glen's mind blanked. This was Alphys? She'd gotten the impression that this Alphys would be different, but ...

"I asked you a question!" Alphys barked, axe falling into combat position. "Who are you? I've only seen two skeletons down here, and you don't look like the slacker or the little spaz."

Sensing that Glen's mind was still recovering, Glen's mouth conspired with her lungs to produce the word, "Garamond."

"Eh?"

Recovering, Glen said, "Garamond. I'm Garamond. That's my name, Garamond. Nice to meet you, Miss ...?"

"Captain Alphys of the Royal Guard." She barked. "Why haven't I seen you before?"

"Oh, well ... I've been around. I move around a lot, being an ... uh ... anthropologist. Monstropologist."

"Monstropologist?" She said, sounding suspicious.

Shock now mostly gone, Glen straightened up, smoothed her shirt, and started talking completely out of her backside, figuratively speaking. "That's right; a monstropologist. I study the relics of our past. Just got done with a five-year exploration of the Ruins. Fascinating place, the ruins; so much history. Did you know some of the engravings date all the way back to the war between the humans and the monsters? I could've stayed there another five years, but I ran out of pens. Keep chewing the damn things until they burst. Always a problem."

"Indeed." Alphys said, her remaining eye narrowing. "And your notebook?"

"My notebook?"

"Your notebook. Undyne has paper all over the place with notes; if you're using pens, you have to be writing on something, yeah? So where is it?"

"Right here." She held up the tablet. "See? Don't need paper."

"But you said you ran out of pens!"

"Did I? Oh, right, of course. I use the pens as styluses. Cheaper than actual Styluses, oddly enough. Don't last very long though."

The look Alphys gave Glen could've cut someone with thinner skin. "Let me see that."

"Uh, sure." The moment she handed it to Alphys, Glen used her power to drain the battery. The screen flickered and died before it was even out of her hands.

"Ah, damn." Glen said, "The batteries in these things never lasts very long. It's why I came here; to see if someone tossed a better one."

After staring at Glen for a good ten seconds, Alphys snorted and tossed the tablet at Glen. "Right. Whatever. Look, Doctor Undyne's sent word that a human's been seen in the underground. The Snowdin Canine Unit's moving to intercept, but frankly I doubt they'll be much more than a delay. If you see the human around here, you send word my way immediately. You have a phone, right?"

"Uh, give me a sec." Glen made a show of smacking the side of the tablet before transferring a little power back into it. Once active, she activated a word processor and looked at Alphys expectantly. Rolling her eyes, Alphys barked out the numbers so quickly that Glen barely managed to get them all into the program.

"First sign of the human-" Alphys repeated.

"Call you right away. Of course, captain. Anything you say."

With a final snort, Alphys stormed out of the junkyard. Glen waited until she was well and truly gone before finally letting out a sigh.

"Well, I guess I can't make fun of the disguise anymore." Glen said.

A voice behind her said, "Alphys is near-sighted. You probably just look like a big blur to her."

Glen spun about to see the same green eyes staring out at him from under the hood of a cloak.

"That was really cool, what you did." The figure said. "You made all of it up, didn't you?"

Glen considered lying, but the boy's tone made it clear there was no point. "Yup. Used to play a game called Dungeons and Dragons. When everyone else made fighters to smash through enemies or mages to blow them to bits, I was the girl who made the bard or the thief who talked their way outta trouble. It's kinda funny; every time I bluff in real life, I swear I can hear dice clattering against a tabletop."

The boy laughed and pushed back his hood. Glen sucked air between her teeth as she recognized the boy as a bossun.

"I'm Asriel Dreemurr." He said, holding out a fur-covered paw. "Nice to meet you, Miss Garamond."


	25. Chapter 24 - The Brass Woods

**Chapter 24**

 **The Brass Woods**

Asriel and Golemite saw the Brass Woods from a considerable distance. It sat on the horizon, a mass of gleaming metal and twisted tubing. The Skyway led right up to the edge of the hammered sheets of brass (or brass-like metal) that covered the ground of the Brass Woods. The path continued, but with materials matching that of the brass woods.

Golemite was nervous about stepping onto the metal, or more specifically, the ability of said metal sheeting to hold his considerable weight. He needn't have worried; whatever lay beneath the metal sheeting was as solid as Golemite himself. He left dents where he walked and made one hell of a racket, but had no trouble walking.

The woods themselves were one of the strangest sights Asriel had ever seen. The trees, if in fact they could be called trees, looked like someone started making a tuba or a sousaphone and went mental mid-way through. Broad trunks of silver, gold, copper, bronze, and brass were topped with slides and tubing. Oddly enough, the trees grew normal leaves, but amidst the shades of autumn, Asriel made out a large number of keys, valves, mouthpieces, and reeds. A chorus of honks, tweets, and trills emanated from the trees when the wind was blowing. It was quite pleasant when the wind was gentle; many a Deep composer spent months of their time in the woods searching for an illusive melody.

Not all the forest was wild, however; they came upon an area of cultivated trees and bushes fenced with harvested parts of the trees. They followed the fence until they reached a large home made from both conventional materials and materials harvested from the forest. The result was very steam-punk without any actual steam, though smoke was rising from the tuba-like bell on the roof.

No less than thirteen kids were lounging on the porch, some resting on benches and chairs while others were sitting on the railings, the tops of barrels, and even on the roof. Appearance wise, they seemed to represent a range between feline and bunny. The reason became clear as two adults emerged from the front door.

The first was a white-furred bunny man wearing a pair of denim coveralls and a straw hat. He seemed cheery enough on his own, but brightened at the sight of the visitors and waved them over. Beside him stood a calico cat lady in a pair of old jeans and a cropped blue blouse. She said nothing, though her eyes never left Golemite and Asriel.

"Good day, strangers!" The bunny man said, a slight drawl in his voice as he moved to greet them. "Welcome to Brassbranch Farm! I'm Lundra, and this is my lovely wife, Meiah."

Meiah gave them a slight nod, her eyes scanning over both of the newcomers.

"Howdy!" Asriel said, shaking the man's hand. "I'm Asriel, and my friend's name is Golemite."

Golemite tipped his construction hat to both of the farmers. "Mistah. Ma'am."

"Nice ta meetcha!" Lundra said. "You boys from Nowhere?"

"Yeah." Asriel said, pressing a thumb against his badge. "Skyway Repair Crew."

Lundra let out a low whistle. "Don't see many of you folk out here; road managed to stay in pretty good shape I guess. At least, I thought it did; seein' you guys here, I'm guessin' there's a problem."

"No problem." Asriel said quickly. "We're just out adventurin'. We wanna see what's beyond the Brass Woods."

Lundra seemed intrigued. "No kiddin'? Well, tell you what; we're about to have ourselves a little lunch. You boys wanna join us?"

Asriel looked to Golemite, who shrugged and nodded.

"Sounds great." Asriel said, smiling at the farmers.

"Great!" Lundra clapped his hands. "All right, kids; get inside if you wanna eat!"

Never in Asriel's life had he seen so many people disappear so quickly. In a matter of seconds, Asriel, Golemite, Lundra, and Meiah were the only ones left on the porch.

"Heh." Lundra said, tipping his straw hat. "We'd better get inside before they eat everything."

"Go ahead, dear." Meiah said, giving her husband a kiss on the cheek. "I'll show our guests inside."

Once Lundra was gone, Meiah's demeanor changed.

"The blades." She said, a definite note of authority in her voice. "I don't allow weapons in my house."

"Blades?" Asriel glanced at his sides; he'd forgotten he was even carrying the broken blades. "Ah, right. Sorry."

He pulled the blades from their makeshift sheathes and handed them to Meiah, hilt first.

She moved to take them, but stopped, her eyes going wide. "These are the blades of a veryx assassin."

Before Asriel could reply, Golemite said, "No, dey were de blades of an veryx assassin. Guy made the mistake of tryin' to take out me and Azzie back in Nowhere."

"You defeated the assassin?" Meiah said, sounding impressed. "That's no small accomplishment."

"Yeah, well ... dat's what he gets for attackin' my buddy." Golemite said, patting Asriel on the back. "You'll give 'em back when we leave, right? We don't know what we're gonna be headin' into, and I'd be a lot happier if my buddy was armed."

"Of course I'll return them." She paused as though a thought occurred to her. "In fact, you might be able to help us."

Asriel frowned, but Meiah stopped him with a gesture. "Let me talk it over with Lundra first. For now, we really should get inside."

Lundra's comments about running out of food were clearly an exaggeration; the table was loaded with food, mostly produce from the farm. While the fruits and vegetables that grew on the trees of the Brass Woods may not look particularly edible, they were in fact some of the most flavorful foods in the Deep. Asriel had a silver-leaf salad with autotomatoes, zapple slices, and plenty of geargrapes. The result was a salad that looked to have been attacked by a clock-maker, but tasted fantastic. Golemite was more of a rock kind of guy, but settled on some currantcorn-on-the-cob.

Lundra and Meiah were curious about current events in Nowhere, understandable given how far their farm was from the city. Golemite told them about some of the goings on of the city while Asriel ate and watched the other kids. The oldest was about his age; they laughed and teased each other even as they were eating, stopping only when (and while) their mother watched them with stern eyes.

After lunch, Lundra brought around a pumptin pie as big as a manhole cover. Asriel found himself thinking longingly of his mother's butterscotch-cinnamon pie as the slices were handed out. The flavor was good, though the pumptin had a slightly metallic aftertaste that was slightly offsetting.

"Well." Lundra said, sitting back in his chair. "I'm glad you could join us. Not to many people on the Skyway these days."

"Hey, we're glad you could have us." Asriel said, pushing away his empty plate. "Lunch was excellent."

"Thank you." Lundra said, smiling happily at the praise. "I try. Not everyone appreciates it. Isn't that right, Shye?"

A young cat girl who looked to be a few years older than Asriel (in appearance at least) scowled and crossed her arms.

Shaking his head, Lundra said, "So you boys are heading to the other side of the Brass Woods, eh? Good on you. Keep on the road, and you should hit Glencove village. Friendly place, not too far from the border. You should be able to resupply there."

"Honey," Meiah said, "Perhaps our guests could help us with the problem in the north fields."

Lundra seemed a little embarrassed. "Oh, come now; we couldn't impose like that. We're not even sure there is a problem."

"It's bugs." Shye said, her tone sullen.

"Bugs don't attack metal crops." Lundra said in the tone that suggested it was an old argument. "It's partly why we settled here."

"I saw them." Shye said stubbornly. "Bugs, big metal bugs, chewing at the Zapple trees."

Meiah frowned at her daughter, but Lundra just smiled and said, "It's probably just kids from Glencove out making mischief. Still, I guess since you're heading that way, could we ask you to take a look at the orchard in passing? You don't have to rush back or anything; just let us know what you find when you head back this way."

"If they head back this way." Shye said, her voice sullen.

Meiah let out a sigh of frustration, but Shye was already out of her chair and halfway out the door. Meiah started to rise from her chair, but Lundra stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. Their gazes met for a moment before Meiah sighed and sat down again.

"I apologize for my daughter." Lundra said. "She's never been much for the farm life. One of these days, I fear I'll wake up and find her gone."

Asriel wasn't sure what to say to that, so he simply said, "Well, it's not a problem for us to go check out your orchard. Right, Golemite?"

"Sure ting, Azzie. And if dere is a bug problem, we can squash it."

"Well, I wouldn't want either of you to risk yourselves on our account." Lundra said, looking uncomfortable with the prospect of a fight.

"It's okay." Lundra said, giving him a reassuring smile. "We'll be careful. Besides, we owe you for lunch."

Lundra was still a bit reluctant, but eventually capitulated. He even sent them off with the leftovers from lunch, a considerable amount of food. Lundra and Meiah saw them off, Meiah actually smiling and waving along with Lundra and all the children.

"We coulda stayed a bit longer." Golemite said about an hour down the road.

Asriel looked at him, surprised. "Why?"

"Well, it's not like you've had a bunch of kids your age to play with."

Chuckling, Asriel said, "I'm older than I look."

"And yer still a bit of a kid. I ain't meanin' no offense; I'm just sayin'."

"Thanks, Golemite." Asriel said, "But I'm good. Besides, I already got a friend."

Golemite's stone cheeks glowed slighty as Asriel smiled at his big buddy. They continued walking in silence for awhile, the forest of brass on one side of the skyway and the fenced off farmlands of Lundra and Meiah's farm on the other. Shye's talk of bugs had Asriel curious about what sort of creatures lived in the Brass Woods.

He saw a few birds, their bodies made of various kinds of wood and their 'feathers' carved reeds. They roosted in the tubes and valves of the trees, the tweeting of their birdsong occasionally audible amidst the honking of the trees themselves. Their were a few squirrels as well, strangely normal looking aside from having the same color as tarnished bronze. Their little metal feet ticked against the ground and trees, making them quite easy to hear, if not to see. Aside from those, however, there didn't appear to be any other creatures ... or at least nothing willing to go that close to the skyway path. He caught occasional glimpses of something larger deeper within the woods, but whatever it was seemed to dart into hiding whenever he tried to get a better look.

Asriel was still staring into the Brass Woods when he suddenly collided into Golemite's leg.

"Ow!" Asriel stumbled back, clutching his head. "Hey! What gives?"

"Lundra said somethin' was scratchin' at the trees, yeah?"

"Yeah." Asriel said, walking around his friend.

Golemite pointed. Asriel followed his friend's pillar-like arm to see what he could only describe as a pile of complete scrap. There were a few other piles there as well, each looking like the remains of one of Alphys's inventions after blowing up. Recognizing the remains of a zapple among the twisted and torn metal sheets, Asriel realized the piles were the remains of trees. Well over a dozen had been destroyed, torn to shreds.

"Whoa!" Asriel said, already half-way over the fence. Golemite caught him and pulled him back.

"Careful." Golemite said. "Whatevah tore apart a metal tree wouldn't have any trouble with your squishy flesh."

Golemite put a massive hand on the fence and tore it open as easily as Asriel might tear a sheet of paper. Stepping through the opening, he slowly approached the nearest pile of scrap, Asriel following behind him.

"Huh." Golemite rumbled, kneeling down beside the pile and sifting through it. "Hey, Azzie; look at this."

Golemite held up a piece of metal so Asriel could get a better look. "See it?"

"It's a piece of metal." Asriel said, squinting at it. "It looks ... metally."

Golemite let out a sigh. "Look at the edges; no melting, only bending. See the bolt holes? The tree wasn't torn apart; it was dismantled."

Asriel carefully lifted part of a zapple from the pile. "Well, whatever did it wasn't hungry; look at all the fruit they left behind."

"They jus' wanted da screws." Golemite sifted through the pile a little more. "No bolts, no screws; nuthin' holding it together. But why? Dere's gotta be easier ways to get screws and bolts, and if you really were dat desperate, why leave the metal? You could melt it down and make more. Heck, I bet the metal itself is worth more."

"So not fruit thieves and not scavengers looking for scrap." Asriel glanced around. "And there are still hundreds of cultivated trees here, so it's doubtful this is some kind of attempt to disrupt Lundra and Meiah's farm. So what caused this?"

There was no apparent answer. They examined the nearest whole trees, and while a few were missing bolts and screws here and there, only a few were taken from each, as though whatever force was behind it was harvesting them carefully, so as to avoid specifically the kind of damage they later caused on the destroyed trees.

"Maybe they only took what they needed." Asriel said, scratching his ear.

Golemite shrugged. "Then why not just take a few from a bunch of the trees and not destroy any? I dunno, Azzie; this looks like someone was bein' careful, but suddenly got in a hurry."

They searched the nearby area for whatever had caused the damage, but ultimately came up empty. Whatever it was apparently hadn't stuck around. About the only sign of the mysterious assailants were scratch-marks on both the metal sheets of the scrap piles and the trees with screws and bolts missing. Unfortunately, both of them were at a loss as to what could've left such a mark. The squirrels and birds only seemed to go after the trees that produced nuts, and even then they left the screws and bolts alone.

Ultimately, there was little else to do but move on. Only six trees in total were scrapped, with another seven showing signs of the strange harvesting, so Lundra's farm was in no real danger. Golemite bent the fence back into place and the two intrepid adventurers continued down the path.

It was Asriel who eventually remembered Skye's talk of metal bugs and suggested that such a thing could've been responsible.

"Yeah, maybe." Golemite said, "But I ain't never heard of any bugs attackin' crops around here."

"So? Look at this place, Golemite." Asriel said, gesturing to the woods. "With the birds and the squirrels, whose to say there aren't some kind of metal insects living in there?"

"Lundra and Meiah." Golemite said immediately. "They didn't seem ta give 'em much thought."

"Maybe they're just in denial. I mean, if they've been getting buy without bug problems and one suddenly pops up, that means they have to find a solution, maybe even a costly one."

Eventually, the small mystery faded in Asriel's mind, his thoughts on what could lay beyond the border of he Brass Woods. Given how alien the Brass Woods were in comparison to Nowhere and the Underground, he realized it could really be anything.

Still, some small worry remained in him. He found himself watching the woods more often, especially after they passed out of Lundra's Orchards. With nothing but the Brass Woods on both sides, Asriel slowly started to feel fenced in, trapped even. The ting of little metal squirrel feet or bird talons soon had him jumping at every sound. It didn't help that he was still catching glimpses of the strange creatures within the Brass Woods.

"Golemite." Asriel said when he couldn't stand it anymore.

"I know." Golemite said. "It's been followin' us since we left Lundra's farmhouse."

Asriel felt a cold sliver of fear shoot through him. "W-what is it?"

"Dunno for sure." He gave Asriel a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry 'bout it. It tries anything, and I'll flatten it."

That did relieve some of Asriel's woes; there weren't many things in the Underground or the Deep that would willingly attack a Golem. Still, he kept his hands on his makeshift daggers until the Brass Woods thinned and they spotted trails of chimney smoke in the distance.

"Must be gettin' close to Glencove Village." Golemite said, picking up his pace a little. "'Bout time too. Feels like we've been walking for days."

Asriel was too tired to argue. As though sensing this, Golemite picked up the young Dreemurr and put him on his shoulder. Asriel would've protested this, but he was relieved to finally be able to rest his legs.

"Hope one of Jenny's sisters is here." Golemite said as drew near the entrance to the village. "Think she'll have a diner too?"

"I hope so." Asriel said, "We ate the last of Lundra's lunch an hour ago."

Golemite passed through the village gate and came to a sudden halt. Asriel didn't have to ask why; what they'd mistaken for chimney fires were in fact the ashen remains of the houses of Glencove Village. The small town had been destroyed.


	26. Chapter 25 - Scavvers

**Chapter 25**

 **Scavvers**

The Junkyard was much larger than Glen imagined. Given that the only town near the underground was Ebott, traditionally a rather small village, the presence of so much surface garbage was quite frankly alarming.

"Then again," Glen reasoned as Asriel led her through the piles of junk, "The last dimension's Ebott looked to have gone for the Alliance's technology upgrades. Ebott might be a damn metropolis in this universe."

"'Scuse me, Miss Garamond?"

Glen shook her head. "Just talkin' to myself. Y'know, about all the garbage."

"Yeah, we get a lot of stuff from the surface here." Asriel said. "There's a lotta good stuff around here, if you don't mind gettin' a bit dirty."

"Anyone tried getting out the way the junk gets in?"

"Oh, all the time." Asriel shook his head. "Doesn't work; the barrier lets things in, but it sure won't let anything out."

Asriel too was an interesting conundrum for Glen; he appeared to be in his mid to late teens, sixteen years old at most ... at least in appearance. Bossun aged differently from most species, only growing older in appearance when in close proximity to their parents. Apparently it had something to do with the soul energy of the parent Bossun transferring to the child, allowing them to grow as the parents grew older. Glen didn't really know that much about it; in her travels, she'd only encountered a dozen or so true Bossun.

Whatever was on the surface didn't seem to be much into food waste or other consumable refuse. Probably recycled and used for power or in some sort of nightmare soylent kind of product, Glen reasoned. Still, that left plenty of technology floating, beneath, or partially submerged in the dirty water of the Junkyard. Glen had to be particulary careful; she was still just in her socks, and there were many jagged or sharp edges just waiting to take a slice at her.

Eventually, they came to a cluster of houses deep within the junkyard. For being constructed entirely out of materials scavenged from the Junkyard, the houses were surprisingly larger than Glen expected. The piles of garbage had been pushed to the outer edges while firm dirt gave the area a proper ground. There were even a few gardens bearing familiar fruits and vegetables, as well as a few that were strange to Glen's eyes.

There were a few monsters out and about. Some tended the gardens, while others were working on the outer walls surrounding the city. A few dressed similarly to Asriel were heading out into the junkyard with empty sacks slung across their backs. Everyone waved to Asriel as he led Glen to one of the bigger houses.

"Scavengers?" Glen asked curiously.

To his surprise, Asriel blushed. "Like I said, there's a lot of good stuff out there."

"Hey, I ain't lookin' down on ya. Most of the gear I made in the Rangers was made with stuff I scavenged with a good bit of duct tape and Easyweld. Shows creativity and resourcefulness. Good on all of you."

Asriel blushed, seemingly pleased by Glen's words. By that time, they were at the front door of the house. Someone had taken bits of two doors and put them together almost perfectly; only the faint reddish hue beneath the paint on the top half of the door belied its original dual nature.

Glen moved to knock, but Asriel stopped her, "It's cool; I live here."

"Oh." Glen said, surprised. "Um, you have a nice place."

"Hmm? Oh! No, sorry, this house belongs to Mister Kidd."

"Kidd?"

The front door opened to reveal a tall monster wearing a turtleneck sweater that could only be described as sleeveless; there were no armholes at all, just like the Kidd of her Universe, newly recruited to the Town Guard. This Kidd looked older, and his tail looked to have been broken and set badly at some point.

"Ah, Asriel." Mister Kidd said, his gloomy face brightening. "You've returned ... with a friend, too."

"Hey, Mister Kidd." Asriel said, unslinging the bag from his shoulder. "Good haul today; the west field's been getting a lot of new stuff the past few days."

"Good work, lad." Nodding at Glen, Mister Kidd asked, "And who might you be, skeleton miss?"

Glen was sure he was making fun of her disguise until she noticed Mister Kidd's eyes were milky white. It was highly unlikely he could make much of her out.

"Garamond." She said. "I was passing through the Junkyard when Asriel found me and showed me here."

"Ah, here to work, hmm? Plenty of that to go around. Most of the Underground benefits from our salvaging here, lass. Usable machines are worth a bit, usable books and videos even more so."

"Books and videos are worth more than computers?" Glen asked.

"They provide entertainment." Mister Kidd said. "A valuable commodity down here, especially after we've been down here for so long."

"Garamond's a scientist." Asriel said helpfully. "She studies the history of monsters."

"Indeed?" Mister Kidd said, looking at Glen appraisingly. "Well then, you've come to the right place. Come inside and take a load off."

Mister Kidd led them inside. The furniture inside the house was a mishmash of styles, some of it in surprisingly good shape considering it likely fell from the surface. The table in the kitchen was surrounded by five chairs, no two of which were the same.

Glen sank into an armchair as Asriel sat down on an old office swivel chair. Mister Kidd sat on a wooden rocker and immediately rocked back and forth. The slight creak of the chair was oddly soothing.

Asriel upended his bag on the table. Sure enough, there were quite a few books, old VHS tapes, and even a few DVDs. Glen couldn't help but smile as the sight of an anime DVD case brought to mind the Alphys of her universe, though her smile faded as the memories of her Alphys eventually brought her back to her encounter with that universe's Alphys.

Asriel left the table only to return a minute later with a small kit filled with various bits and bobs for repairing the kind of media he'd gathered: CD scratch removal, VHS tape repair, even cotten swabs and rubbing alcohol for cleaning the contacts on cartridges.

Hearing a chuckle, Glen looked at Mister Kidd to find the lizard man smiling at him. "Asriel's an old friend of the family. He was friends with my son back in the day."

"Oh, you're married?"

Mister Kidd nodded. "The Missus passed on a few years back. Fortunately, Asriel came to live here not long after. He's having parent trouble."

"Mister Kidd!" Asriel said, cheeks red beneath his white fur.

Mister Kidd chuckled. "I know, I know; you don't want to talk about it."

Glen had a pretty good idea what Asriel wasn't saying. She's known Asgore and Toriel had been married but split up some time before the monsters were freed from the Underground. Clearly, this reality was no different in that regard.

"So." Mister Kidd said, "You're studying the history of monsters, eh? A noble effort. Anything in particular your looking to find out?"

"Nothing specific." Glen said, bluff skill fully active. "I just figured someone should write it down what happened properly. Humans live such short lives, there's no telling how the truth of the war between us will be warped by the time we get out."

"True. The victors often twist the story to their favor. I often wonder about those monsters who turned against us."

"Some monsters helped the humans?" Glen said, surprised.

"It was war. Some thought it was a way to survive the slaughter. Others felt that maybe humans had a right to fear us. Whatever their purpose, we know for a fact that some of us helped the humans; after all, the barrier is magic, and humans have no magic."

"That we know of." Glen added, thinking of the Centers of Knowledge back on Vinta.

"True. Still, magical experts detected monster magic in the barrier, so we know some of us must've helped the humans. At the time, we were furious."

"You were alive during the war?" Glen said before realizing just how that sounded.

Fortunately, Mister Kidd simply laughed. "Yeah, I'm old. You don't have to sound so surprised, youngster. I was just a recruit serving with in Princess Toriel's squad at the time. The war was ... brutal. Humanity hated us dearly, and after seeing so many friends fall to them, we had precious little love for humanity. We were never sure who started the fighting; one minute tensions were high, the next we were fighting for our lives. The Princess was one hell of a fighter; most of us struggled to match strength with the humans and their weapons, but she tore through their ranks like a woman possessed."

Glen noted that Asriel had stopped repairing the tapes and was now listening intently. She said nothing, not wanting to break the spell as Mister Kidd continued. "For nearly three whole months, we fought to break the human's hold on us. They were driving us back, and at the time we were certain genocide was on their mind."

Mister Kidd shook his head sadly. "When the barrier came up, it was almost a relief; they surely could've annihilated us had they wished, yet they chose to confine us here instead. Unfortunately, the previous Queen of the Underground was killed in the final battle, leaving Toriel to take her place. Things could've been bad then; we were scared, trapped, and still so angry at the humans for driving us away. Still, over time, the anger faded and our thoughts became full of our new life down here."

"Queen Toriel promised to find a way to free us, of course. She ordered any human found wandering the Underground to be brought to Dreemurr castle. We thought her plan was to take the soul and leave to try and find a way to destroy the barrier ..." Mister Kidd let out a sigh. "That was when the talks of purging the surface world began."

"I beg your pardon?" Glen said, unwilling to believe that Toriel, sweet motherly Toriel, would set such a thing into motion.

"I know." Mister Kidd said, nodding. "Hard to believe. by that time, we'd already settled down from the war. Sure, we missed the sun, but to have our Queen suddenly advocate such a violent option was a bit startling. Fortunately, her new plan called for seven human souls; since she wasn't going to use one to go and and get more, we essentially had to wait for humans to fall down here. As you no doubt know, the odds of that were not exactly high."

"Seven souls." Glen said, frowning. "She was trying to create an artifact of seven?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"An artifact of seven." Glen paused, realizing that was an Elsewhere term, and as such Mister Kidd couldn't know about it. "Artifacts of seven are objects that gain exceptional powers when all seven are brought together. There are quite a few of them of varying power; Dragonballs, Chaos Emeralds, the seven strings of the Liariatte Mandis ... and by power, I mean wish-like power."

"The Everstar?" Asriel said.

Glen looked at him curiously. "The what?"

Asriel blushed and looked away. "Er, sorry. Please continue, Mister Kidd."

"But-"

"I don't know what her true plan was." Mister Kidd confessed. "Perhaps you're correct, and she wanted an artifact of seven. Perhaps she wanted to absorb all seven souls herself; just one soul would make a monster nearly unstoppable. Seven could make a monster practically god-like ... maybe even literally god-like."

Shaking his head, Mister Kidd said, "So that's where we are now. Personally, I find my life deeply fulfilling. I miss my wife and child, of course, but Asriel here's kind enough to visit me, and I have an important purpose. The salvage we find helps the Underground, and with the recent over-crowding problems, we need all the distraction we can get."

"Rumor has it a seventh child has fallen into the underground." Glen said.

"Eighth." Mister Kidd said, his face sad. Before Glen could ask what was wrong, the lizard monster rose from his chair.

"You can leave those, Asriel." Mister Kidd said kindly. "I heard a large amount of junk landed in the western fields just an hour ago. You probably passed some of the early scavvers heading that way on the way into town. It may be too late, but I'd like you to check it out."

"Not a problem." Asriel said, setting down the tape he'd been working on. As he rose, Glen said, "Tell you what; I'll head along with you if you don't mind."

"Sure thing.' Asriel said. "It'll be nice to have someone friendly along for a change. Besides, we'll be able to carry more together."

Mister Kidd nodded approvingly. "Very well. I could offer dinner and lodging for the night in it for the assistance."

"Much thanks." Glen said, tugging a lock of her bangs.

Each carrying a bag and Glen now equipped with an old pair of Mister Kidd's boots and an old solid wooden broom handle to poke at the piles of garbage, Dreamer and Dreemurr left Mister Kidd's house. They walked in silence out of the village and were soon once again wandering the piles of human refuse.

Once they were well away from the village, Asriel said, "Thank you for not asking him."

"Not asking him what?" Glen asked, her attention on the piles of junk.

"About the whole 'eighth child' thing. A lot of people wouldn't have let it slide; after all, one more soul, and Mom ... Queen Toriel will have all the souls she needs."

After a few moments of silence, Glen asked, "You wanna talk about that?"

"No thank you." Asriel said, his tone a little stiff.

Glen raised her hands. "Fair enough."

They continued on until Asriel finally came to a stop. How he knew they were there was Glen's guess, as it looked just like every other area of the Junkyard Glen had seen thus far. There was no sign of the other scavengers, but given the sheer amount of junk, that was hardly surprising.

"All right." Asriel said, "We're looking for any entertainment media that's salvageable. Don't bother with tapes or cartridges if they've been in the water; books are the most valuable, with discs and cartridges being next."

"You got it." Glen said, giving Asriel a mock salute. In truth, Glen had her own mission. The Sans and Papyrus of that reality were about to encounter their Frisk ... or whoever the fallen child would turn out to be. While Glen wanted to think the child would be kind and merciful like her Frisk, her experiences thus far in the Underground made her cautious, especially in the mixed up reality she currently occupied. Perhaps the ichor was an isolated thing ... or perhaps it was part of something larger. Either way, she would really feel more comfortable if she had Headache back.

With the original existing in various bits across a few hundred yards in another dimension, that meant she'd have to put something together there. Fortunately, there was no better place for that than a junkyard.

Walking through the junkyard brought with it memories of her time in Rimstak. Desperately seeking a way to make a name for herself so Teria's parents would accept their union, she'd spent a lot of time in the various junkyards of both Shineside and Shadeside scavenging for parts. She even made friends with the local boogieman.

"A shame you aren't here, Corra." Glen commented to herself. "You'd probably find all this fascinating."

Spotting an object that could be altered to serve as the framework for an UBT, Glen tried unsuccessfully to remove it from the pile before realizing it was attached to a long metal pole buried by the pile. Instinctively, she grabbed a small fusion cutter and moved to cut away the pole.

She paused, her eyes on the fusion cutter. Glancing down, she found she was wearing her work belt. She'd summoned it automatically, the same way it always did when she was getting ready to work. Glen had done it so often that she barely even thought about it anymore.

From her time with Narrator Number One, she knew her Dreamer abilities allowed her to summon items into existence. Smaller items like pens and tape were simple; more complicated items and grouped items were a little harder, and anything large or extremely complicated required intimate knowledge of the inner workings and assembly. For example, she could summon a nice pancake breakfast because she often cooked it for herself and her wife. She could not, however, summon a nice lobster thermidor; last time she'd tried to cook lobster, the end result ended up rampaging across Longshore.

Still, she was familiar with Headache; she'd rebuilt it three times. She knew every wire, every circuit, every switch perfectly. So why couldn't she summon a new Headache?

She closed her eyes and focused on creating a mental image of headache; every nut, every bolt, every module. Reaching out her hands, she willed the UBTs appear around her arms.

She felt a rush of energy leave her and opened her eyes in time to see Headache appear around her arms ... and promptly fall into pieces.

Disappointed, Glen was nevertheless hopeful. She'd managed to summon the scattered bits of Headache from another dimension, probably thanks to the fragment of the Inverse Harmonius she possessed. Admittedly, most of it was scrap, but it was a start. Perhaps with it there, she could reassemble it as well.

No sooner than the thought passed her mind, her rune flashed again. Bits of Headache rose in the air, torn metal and severed wires repairing themselves as she watched. Excited, she focused her thoughts on memories of putting Headache together; laying out the circuitry and the wiring, designing the modular compartments and the upgrade modules from technologies she encountered across her travels.

It was working! Headache was slowly reforming before her eyes as the energy of dreams emanated from Glen's rune. She laughed out loud; had she known it was so easy,she would've done it ages ago. Hell, she might've been able to summon it away from Asgore before their fight even started.

A loud clang sounded behind her, making Glen turn her head. One of the piles of trash had collapsed, sending a small wave of broken appliances, metal scrap, and other assorted refuse. It was only a small pile, and wasn't close enough to cause Glen any concern. Still, the way the garbage tumbled down made it look like a great snake slithering through the garbage.

Her rune pulsed, emanating a brief surge of power. Startled, Glen turned back to see machinery from the junkyard tumbling toward the place where Headache was assembling. The image of the snake of trash again entered her mind, making the rune pulse again.

"Oh, no ... no, no, no." Glen said, trying to cut off the dream energy. Her rune pulsed again, sending out more energy into the construct. More machinery attached itself to Headache, combining to form a larger, longer machine that grew by the minute.

Glen was still struggling to quell her rune when she heard Asriel call out, "Miss Garamond? I heard a crash. Is something wrong?"

"That's putting it lightly." Glen said through clenched teeth. Through sheer force of will, she managed to pull her hand away from the construct. Her Anti-ka Maru died instantly, but the ever-growing construct was still imbued with a lot of dream energy. It grew, absorbing materials from the nearby piles.

Asriel stopped beside Glen as the now-massive machine writhed before them. His eyes widened at the sight. "W-what is that?"

"Bad news." Glen said, backing away. There was a definite form to the mechanical monstrosity in front of them, and she didn't like it one bit. "Um, Asriel?"

"Y-yeah?"

"RUN!"


	27. Chapter 26 - Handshakes and Mayhem

**Chapter 26**

 **Handshakes and Mayhem**

It was strange for Sans to be back at his sentry post near the ruins. He wasn't sure what he was feeling; nostalgia, perhaps? How many times had he been there, waiting for the arrival of the fallen child? How many times had he hoped that it would be the last time, that their end would finally come, be it happy or sad? How many times had he prayed to any deity that might be listening that he wouldn't have to see the death of his brother again?

He shook his head. That world was far away from him now, the ashes of his friends now cold. In many ways, the dimension he was now occupying was even worse. Papyrus was a murderer, Alphys was cold and calculating, and the people of Snowdin lived in constant fear brought about by a ruthless King Asgore who was planning an all-out war with the surface. True, King Asgore of dimension A-18 also spoke of a coming war, but everyone knew it was unlikely he'd turn down diplomatic options once the barrier was down. Collecting gold to create magically enchanted gear made the prospect of war much more real.

But what could Sans do? Standing up to Papyrus was one thing, but overthrowing the king? That seemed a bit much. In truth, he just wished he could provide a way back to his own dimension for the innocent townsfolk. Thinking to his experiment, he wondered if that wasn't an altogether bad idea; perhaps he could get the others out in secret ... a sort of Underground Underground. The idea of it made him chuckle.

"Well, first things first." He said, sticking his hands in the pockets of his stolen coat. "The kid should be on the way."

He hid within the trees by the bridge, waiting patiently to for the arrival of the child. There'd be no stalking this time; no greeting at the bridge, no whoopie-cushion in the hand. He'd watch the kid carefully this time. If they were good, he'd take them with the good people of Snowdin. If they were bad ... well, the kid would serve as a good distraction for NegaPapyrus and Undyne.

A good ten minutes passed before Sans finally spotted the tiny figure walking down the path. He recognized her as Frisk; physically, she was identical to the little girl who slaughtered his people. Anger rose within Sans, but he forced it down; the Frisk of his universe had been corrupted by the ichor. Glen said her Frisk was perfectly fine, and while Sans had a few doubts as to Glen, he nevertheless found himself believing her.

Looking at the kid again, Sans realized she was a lot rougher around the edges than usual. She had a sizable bruise on her cheek, scrapes were visible on her legs, and her hair was a mess. Strangely, this Frisk was dressed for the weather: a black turtleneck sweater with red stripes, denim jean shorts with leg warmers, a pair of fur-lined boots, and even a cute little yellow bandanna around her neck.

There was something else; She was inexplicably carrying a boot with her ... a boot containing a very familiar yellow flower with a face.

Sans felt his arms tense; Frisk had Flowey with her. Somehow, that seemed like a bad sign. Still, looking at the little girl's face, Sans couldn't help but feel a little compassion. She didn't look arrogant or bloodthirsty; she looked nervous and a little frightened.

Sans took a step forward to get a better look and trod upon a stick. The snap shot through the quiet air of the forest like a bolt of lightning, making Frisk freeze in place. What was only a little fear in the faces of the flower and the girl quickly turned into masks of terror.

"W-who's there?" She called out, arms wrapped around Flowey's boot.

"Frisk!" Flowey said, giving her a look of incredulity. "Do you really want an answer?"

Realizing his cover was blown, Sans decided he might as well introduce himself. He walked out of the forest with his hood over his skull. Frisk tensed as he stepped on the path only a few feet from her.

He stared at her in silence, lost for a moment in his thoughts. The absurdity of the situation washed over him. The idea that this trembling child, this littler girl who even now looked at him with absolute terror was in some way connected to the Frisk who tore an ashen swath through everyone he knew ... it seemed so ludicrous, even after seeing the truth for himself over and over again.

After a moment of silence, Sans pushed back his hood and smiled at her. "Heya, kid. How's it going?"

Fear turned instantly to terror. She tried to turn and run, but only managed to trip over her own feet and fall face first into the snow. She struggled to rise, her feet slipping in the snow from her panic.

He could kill her right there. One blast from a Gaster Blaster, and both she and the flower would be ash. It would be easy and quick. he thought of his lost friends and the brother whose scarf he still carried in the depths of his own coat. He could give the soul to NegaPapyrus to forestall suspicion and distract the evil version of his brother long enough for Sans to secure an escape from that dimension.

Or perhaps Sans could make use it himself. Human souls held great power; perhaps it would be enough to use the fragment of the Inverse Harmonius. A whole plan flashed through Sans's mind; he could lie to Papyrus, say he never found the kid, then use the Inverse Harmonius fragment to vacate Snowdin while Papyrus was on patrol or visiting Undyne. Time was ticking; sooner or later, Papyrus or Alphys would realize something was up, or NegaSans would turn up without his coat.

Frisk stopped struggling and simply sat there in the snow, trembling as she stared up at Sans's face. "P-please ... please d-don't hurt me."

Seeing her huddled there in the snow was too much. Sans couldn't even bring himself to raise a hand, let alone summon a magical attack. It might have been an act, but Sans realized it didn't matter. Even after everything he'd been through, all the repeated timelines where his friends were killed over and over again, he couldn't bring himself to kill her, not if there was a chance that she really was just a frightened little girl in need of a friend.

Flowey turned to him, face twisted in a menacing scowl as the little flower hissed at Sans and fired several small seed-like bursts of magic at the skeleton. Sans stepped aside to avoid the shots and held up his hands.

"Easy there, bud. I don't mean any harm. Lotus help ya already."

Flowey scowled, but to Sans's surprise, Frisk let out a giggle.

"Frisk!" Flowey warned, but the little girl held out her hand, a timid smile on her face.

"Watch out!" Flowey said, alarmed. "He's got a-"

Sans clasped Frisk's hand, the rude sound of the deflating whoopie cushion shooting through the still air of the snow-filled cavern.

"Sorry 'bout that, kid." Sans said, helping Frisk to her feet. "Couldn't help myself. The whoopie-cushion in the hand trick is a classic."

Frisk giggled, all trace of fear now gone. "Hello, mister. I'm Frisk and this is Flowey."

"Hi there, Frisk and this is Flowey." Sans said, shaking her hand as she giggled at his bad joke. "Call me Sans. Sans the skeleton."

"Don't trust him Frisk." Flowey said. "You heard what Toriel said; the monsters out here will kill us without a second thought."

"Actually," Sans said with a shrug, "That's just a nasty stigma. I don't wanna hurt anyone; it's not my style."

Frisk giggled again. Flowey gave Sans as dirty a look as the flower was capable of producing.

"Take it easy, little guy." Sans said, "I'm just teasin' ya. Truth is, you're right; I may not wanna hunt humans but my brother, Papyrus? He's a human-killing fanatic."

Looking back down the path toward Snowdin, Sans added, "Doesn't seem to have much trouble killing monsters either for that matter. If he had any blood, it'd probably be as cold as ice."

Sans frowned; he could just make out a figure in the distance heading their way ... a tall figure in black armor.

"And here he comes." Sans murmured.

"What?" Flowey said, fear returning to both his and Frisk's faces.

Sans shook his head. "Don't worry; I won't let him catch you."

"But how are we gonna hide/" Frisk asked, toying with her hands nervously. "We can't go back, and there's only one path."

"Hmm." Sans said, scratching his skull. "I've got an idea, but you're gonna have to trust me."

"Don't trust him!" Flowey said, alarmed. "This ... this is all a plan to capture us!"

Sans fixed the flower with a glowing blue eye. "And if it is, what do you plan to do about it ... Asriel?"

Flowey went pale, face, stem, and petals. Frisk looked started as well. Sans caught a glimpse of his skull in the reflection of her eyes, and was surprised just how frightening his visage was. Feeling a little guilty, he calmed himself.

"I'm gonna be honest." Sans said, "There's more going on right now than you know. I'm willing to let you in on everything, at least everything I know, but if we do not hide you right now, that thing that looks like my brother will not hesitate to kill you both. Now I wanna help, but if you don't want my help, I'll let you handle it on your own." Sans stepped off the path and looked back to Frisk. "He'll be here any minute now, so you'd better make your decision quick."

Flowey and Frisk exchanged a long glance. Sighing, Flowey nodded.

"Please help us, Mister Sans." Frisk said, hands clasped in front of her chest.

Sans let out a sigh before reaching out and ruffling her brown hair. "Don't worry, kiddo. We'll get through this, I promise. For now, I need you to do exactly what I say."

NegaPapyrus stomped over to Sans's sentry post. "Sans!" He shouted, his eyes glowing red. "Where are you?"

His eyes fell on a large lamp partially submerged in the snow. Eye sockets narrowing, NegaPapyrus walked toward the lamp, several bones appearing around his gauntleted hand.

"Over here, bro." Sans watched as NegaPapyrus spun about, eyes still flaring.

"Well." NegaPapyrus said, crossing his arms. "You're actually at your post for a change. Awake too."

"Just doin' my duty, boss." Sans said.

Papyrus stared at him for a long moment. Sans met his gaze, careful not to show an inch of weakness.

"I don't suppose you've given any thought to your traps." NegaPapyrus said. "The human will be here any second, and we must be prepared to capture it."

"Don't worry." Sans said. "I won't make a mesh of things this time."

NegaPapyrus shot him a dirty look. "This is no time for jokes, Sans! This human has the final soul we need for freedom! If we are the ones to bring it to Asgore, he will no doubt reward us greatly!"

"He'll reward Undyne, you mean." Sans said. "We work for her, after all."

"For the moment." NegaPapyrus said mysteriously.

Sans gave NegaPapyrus a curious look, to which NegaPapyrus shook his head. "For now, we must capture that human. Has there been any sign of it yet?"

"I haven't seen anyone pass by." Sans said.

"Good. According to Professor Alphys, the human has yet to pass her other observation posts. You remain here and test the human's strength; this close to success, we must not take any chances. Capture it if you can, otherwise attempt to ascertain its weaknesses for later confrontation. Any information could mean the difference between our return to the surface or remaining imprisoned down here."

NegaPapyrus turned to depart down the path on which he'd arrived, only to pause and glance back at the lamp.

"Somethin' wrong, bro?" Sans asked, trying his best to subtly move between his brother and the lamp.

"Where did that ugly thing come from?"

"The ugly what?'

"That lamp. It's hideous."

Sans glanced back at the lamp, feigning surprise. "Oh, that lamp! It was here when I got here."

"Really." NegaPapyrus said, suspicion in his tone.

"Probably just somethin' Greater Dog dug up during his patrol." Sans said just a little too quickly. "You know how distracted he gets."

"Yes, I do ... especially after we discovered her brother was a traitor." Without another word, NegaPapyrus raised a hand. The ghostly visage of a Gaster Blaster appeared above the lamp and blasted it into oblivion before Sans could say a word.

They stared at the rapidly freezing puddle of water that stood where the lamp had previously. There was no sign of anything other than the last few inches of the lamp's power cord.

Snorting, NegaPapyrus lowered his hand, gave Sans a curt nod, and walked away from the sentry station. Just before leaving the clearing, however, he stopped again.

"Sans." He said, not turning around.

Sans tensed in anticipation of what was to come. "Yeah, boss?"

"I'm ... sorry."

Sans's eye-sockets went wide. "Excuse me?"

"About what I said earlier.' Papyrus said, his voice strangely quiet. "I may have been harsher than I intended. If anything, I find your newfound spirit to be quite promising, if a bi misguided."

"It was the truth, bro." Sans said. "I gave Fuku the gold. I honestly didn't think anything of it ... and you can't be mad at Grillby. Of course he had to protect his family."

"Just as we must protect ours." NegaPapyrus said. "Brother ... we're almost there. This soul will prove to Asgore that I should be the leader of the Royal Guard."

"You want to take Undyne's place?"

NegaPapyrus sighed and said, "Do you think I haven't noticed how our captain hasn't done any work for the past two years? Oh, she's a skilled fighter, but she spends all of her time in Waterfall pining for the good Professor! Frankly, she's been an embarressment to the Royal Guard, and once the final soul is secured, I intend to make Asgore aware of it. We just have to play our parts a little longer, Sans."

Sans was speechless. This was the last thing he expected from NegaPapyrus at that point. While the idea of Papyrus turning on Alphys was ... well, honestly, about what he expected fron NegaPapyrus, the way NegaPaps was acting at that moment was almost brotherly. For the first time, Sans could see a little of his Papyrus in NegaPapyrus, if only just a little bit.

"Until then," Papyrus said, his tone once again stern and commanding, "We must continue to play our parts. Now assume your post and prepare yourself for the battle ahead."

With that, NegaPapyrus departed. Sans watched until he was well out of sight.

"All right." Sans said, still watching the path. "He's gone."

He turned to see Frisk and Flowey peeking over the edge of the sentry station. It would've been cute if the situation wasn't so dire.

"All right." Sans said, helping Frisk over the counter of the sentry station. "First things first; we need to get you somewhere safe ... somewhere where Papyrus can't find you."

"You son of a bitch!"

Sans grabbed Frisk and Flowey's boot and leapt over the counter into the sentry station moments before a blast from a Gaster Blaster tore through the ground where he previously stood. Sans peeked over the edge of the counter to see NegaSans, minus his jacket.

"Oh, there you are. I was wondering when you'd show up again." Sans ducked beneath the counter moments before a bone embedded itself in the wood.

"I don't know what you've been doin', and frankly I don't care. Give me my damn jacket, and I'll consider letting you live."

"He looks like you!" Flowey said, panic in his voice. "Why does he look like you?"

"Because he is me." Sans said, looking under the counter for something he could use. Unfortunately, there was only mustard, relish, and moldy hot-dog buns. He dug behind the condiment containers, passing a few to Frisk in the process, but there was nothing else down there.

"B-but how can he be you?" Frisk asked, still clutching the bottle of mustard. "You're you!"

"Look, it's a long story." Sans said, wondering if it was worth the risk to peek over the counter again.

"Then you'd better make with the cliff-notes version." Two skeletal hands slammed onto the counter of the sentry station as NegaSans peered over the counter, a red glint in his eye-sockets.

"Are you sure?" Sans said, grinning at his dimensional counterpart. "'Cause you look a little hungry. Frisk!"

Frisk and Sans both squeezed their condiment bottles. The streams of spicy mustard shot through the air and hit NegaSans in the face.

"AAAGH! You bastards! I'm gonna tear your jaw out and ram it up your pelvis!" NegaSans shouted, backpedaling as he rubbed desperately at his mustard-covered face.

"Hold on, kid!" Sans said, grabbing Frisk and Flowey and holding them close. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this."

"Do what?" Flowey shrieked.

"We're taking a shortcut." Sans said moments before the three of them vanished from sight.


	28. Chapter 27 - Drawn to Life

**Chapter 27**

 **Drawn to Life**

Glen and Asriel ran through the Junkyard, neck and neck as they rushed toward the settlement. They both showed remarkable speed, though the constant sounds of garbage crashing behind them accompanied by a low rumble in the ground and an occasional sound that could only be described as a metal scream.

They were just within sight of the cobbled-together outer wall of the settlement when the rumbling intensified. Asriel looked confused, but Glenda had enough experience with similar matters to realize that something was passing beneath them. She grabbed Asriel by the back of his hood and pulled him behind the abandoned shell of a storage truck moments before something burst through the ground of the junkyard, sending garbage and fetid water in every direction.

Garbage rained around them. Fortunately, the remains of the storage truck kept anything harmful from crushing them. Just before they could breath a collective sigh of relief, massive metal jaws caught the top of the storage truck and crushed in a solid mass of metal before pulling it away from the terrified Dreamer and monster.

Before them stood what could only be described as a massive snake made entirely of garbage. Several bulldozer jaws surrounded one central jagged maw that opened to reveal a massive grinder within. Asriel and Glen watched in horror as it swallowed the remains of the transport car and in moments ground it to nothing. The rest of the body was just a mass of rusted metal, framework, and tightly packed cables.

"What do we do?" Asriel asked, turning to Glen with eyes full of desperation.

"What are you lookin' at me for?" Glen said, still holding on to some hope that this wasn't all her fault. "I mean, surely you've seen something like this before!"

"Of course I haven't seen anything like this before!" Asriel said, "Trash doesn't just come to life and start chasing people!"

An alarm sounded from the vicinity of the city. Massive cobbled-together doors slammed together, blocking entrance into the village and drawing the mechawyrm's attention. It screamed again and slammed into the gate several times. The gate shuddered, some of the bits falling off the gaate, but it still held.

"Okay," Glen said, "We need a plan. Asriel ..."

She turned to see Asriel's back as the young Bossun beat a hasty retreat. Sighing, Glen said, "Okay, I need a plan."

While frightening, the monstrosity wasn't exactly complex. Reasoning that it didn't have any kind of sensory apparatus to detect touch, Glen hurried to the exposed tail of the creature. She'd only taken a few steps when the tail reared back as well, expanding to reveal a small circular opening. Pure instinct made Glen throw herself aside moments before the tail shot a large spear-like sliver of metal through the opening.

Glancing at the half-buried metal spear, Glen realized it was recycled materials from the delivery truck. She couldn't help but be impressed; this was a machine made from recycled parts that used more garbage as ammunition. Sure, it was aggressive, but it there was a way to tame the damn thing, the residents of the underground could make use of such a machine. The metal of the spear-like projectile was still warm to the touch, and quite strong; obviously the Mechawyrm didn't just harvest materials, but refined them as well.

Glen shook her head; the MechaWyrm was still bashing against the settlement wall; given the wyrm's girth and the makeshift nature of the wall, it was only a matter of time before the wall lost. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure what to do. The MechaWyrm was practically a Dreadnaught, and her Dreadnaught, the Popeful Mail, was two-thousand years out of reach.

She considered her Dreamer abilities briefly before quickly shoving the thought aside. Playing with her powers caused this mess; trying to use them again would likely just make the situation worse. No, she needed something more conventional, something like ...

The growl of an engine caught Glen's ears. She glanced in the direction of the noise to see the tank-like treads of a large repaired construction truck moving her way, a large wrecking ball attached to the central mast. Squinting at the cabin, Glen realized Asriel was the driver.

"Way to go, Azzie!" Glen said with a grin. "Show it who's boss!"

The MechaWyrm turned as the wrecker approached. It screamed, a poor use of its time considering that the wrecker was already swinging its arm toward it, the massive metal ball following suite. The Wyrm darted forward just a moment too late, the wrecking ball catching it in the side of its head. The resulting clash send several of the bulldozer jaws tumbling to the ground.

Asriel drew the arm back for another swing, but the Mechawyrm was already moving to counter attack. It coiled around the treads of the wrecker and squeezed. The treads were reduced to scrap in a matter of seconds; Asriel worked the controls frantically, the panic in his eyes visible even to Glen.

Asriel needed help. Glen looked around frantically for something, some way to distract the beast. There was nothing lying around heavy enough to threaten the Mechawyrm, but maybe she could throw together something that was loud and flashy with some lights and old speakers.

A flash of light caught her eye. She looked down at her rune horrified as beams of dream energy shot into the pile of garbage.

"No, no, no!" Glen said, grabbing her extended hand and trying in vain to yank it back.

The pile of garbage rumbled. Glen watched in fear, wondering what monstrosity she was making this time, when something shot from the pile straight toward her far too fast to dodge. Instinctively closing her eyes, Glen raised her hands in time to catch the device, it landing in her hand with almost practiced ease.

She cracked her eyes open to look at the device. It looked like someone tried to build an assault rifle out of audio equipment, the 'muzzle' being in fact a massive speaker. It was also quite familiar, Glen having seen the business end of a similar weapon only a few months prior.

"Dubstep gun!" Glen said, taking the weapon in both hands. "Hell yeah!"

The musical loadout matched her knowledge of dubstep, small surprise seeing as her powers made the thing. After choosing an appropriate song, it took Glen a few moments to find the proper switches to activate the device. The speakers immediately produced the familiar low-rumble of bass Glen associated with the weapon. Popping in a pair of earplugs (thank the Creator she kept a few pairs in her tool belt), she took aim and pulled the trigger.

The air filled with streams of light as the thunderously loud notes of Madeon's 'Pop Culture' tore through the air. Both sound and song slammed into the creature, making it let out a scream that almost overpowered the dubstep. It released its grip on Asriel and tuned to Glen.

Glen tensed herself, ready for the giant mechanical snake to make a rush for her. Instead, however, it simply dove into the ground, tearing a hold through the dirt and the junk.

Glen lowered the dubstep gun, feeling a little proud of herself despite the fact her powers seemed to take matters into their own hands, so to speak. A shame it couldn't have done the same with Headache, but One warned her that Dreamer powers are by nature unpredictable.

"Hey, a victory is a victory." She said, turning off the gun. "And any fight you can walk away from is a good one in my book."

She hurried over to the wrecker just as Asriel managed to climb out of the cab of the vehicle.

"T-thanks for the save." Asriel said as Glen helped him down from the wrecker.

"Likewise." Glen said, nodding at the wrecker. "A shame about the wrecker."

Asriel waved her off. "Ah, just a hobby of mine. Most of the vehicles that end up down here are scrap; this one was just old. I was hoping I could use it to help with the scavenging, but ..."

"Hey," Glen said, "You saved your town ... er, what's it called?"

"Junk." Asriel said, furry cheeks growing pink. "Er, sorry. My Dad named it back when he and Mom were together. He never was very original, I'm afraid."

"Junk." Glen repeated. Shrugging, she said, "Eh, fair enough. My hometown's called Bridges ... because it's between two bridges, get it? I'm hardly in the position to criticize."

"Bridges?" Asriel said, frowning. "I've never heard of that settlement. Where is it in the Underground?"

Glen froze, realizing she'd said more than she intended. "Er, it's between Snowdin and the Ruins. Tiny settlement; you've probably never seen it."

Unfortunately, Asriel was looking her over now. While not harmful, the water of the junkyard had washed off much of the paint covering her body, leaving her caucasian skin exposed.

"You're not a skeleton." He said unnecessarily.

"And you're not an armless lizard person." Glen said. "And yet here we both are."

After enduring another few moments of Asriel's suspicious stare, Glen let out a sigh. "All right, all right. If you must know, I'm human."

Asriel's eyes went wide. Taking her arm, he said, "We have to hide you! If my mother finds out you're down here-"

"Relax." Glen said, raising her hand. "I came here by accident; as soon as I find a way back, I'll leave."

A brief rumble shook the ground before subsiding. Glen amended, "All right, I'll leave as soon as I find a way and I've dealt with that thing."

Asriel opened his mouth to ask another question when a loud screech of metal shot through the air. Both Glen and Asriel tensed at the sound, but it wasn't the shriek of the MechaWyrm; it was the scraping of metal caused by the village gates opening.

Sighing, Asriel said, "C'mon; we'll talk more once we get inside."

After a moment of thought, he pulled off his coat to reveal a baggy green and yellow-striped shirt. He handed the coat to Glen. "Put this on."

"I'm fine." Glen said.

"You're not fine, you're human. Look, I trust Mister Kidd, and the other people in the village are nice people, but all it takes is one to alert Alphys. Please, just wear the coat until we get home."

Sighing, Glen slipped on the brown coat and pulled the hood over her head. Nodding, Asriel led them back into the city.

The old turtle manning the gates asked, "Gee willikers, what in the name of tarnation was that thing?"

"I don't know, Gerson." Asriel said. "Better keep the gates closed just in case."

"Aye, lad, just as soon as the other scavvers get back." Gerson pulled out a tool box, adding, "I should probably try shoring up the door a little more until then."

"Just be careful, okay?" Asriel said, worry on his young face.

Gerson laughed. "Wa ha ha! Don't worry about me, kid! Ain't no old snake 'bout to bring this old man down!"

Several of the other villagers joined the turtle man in his efforts as Asriel led Glen back to Mister Kidd's house. Mister Kidd was outside the door, the worry in his face quickly changing to relief at the sight of Asriel.

"Thanks be." Mister Kidd said, "I was worried sick. What was that creature?"

"Some kind of giant trash snake." Asriel said. "Garamond managed to drive it off."

"Actually," Glen said, pushing back her hood the moment she was inside. "It's Glen."

Mister Kidd didn't look surprised. "Ha. Finally admitting your human, miss historian?"

Blushing, Glen opened her mouth to explain only to stop when Mister Kidd shook his head.

"My eyes aren't as bad as all that, missy. Even if they were, a skeletons bones make all kind of clatter, even when they're just sitting there." He chuckled and added, "Besides, I'm one of the few monsters left down here who still remembers what actual humans look like. Me, Gerson, and Asriel's parents. I had you pegged before you stepped through the door, miss."

Feeling a little embarrassed, Glen rubbed her arm and said, "Sorry for lying, but-"

"I know, I know. The Queen's edict." Mister Kidd's smile faded. "She wasn't always like that, y'know. Her mother's death hit her hard, but even then she was inclined to mercy."

Asriel's chair scraped the floor. "I'm going to go wash up." He announced, a note of coldness in his voice.

Mister Kidd was silent until Asriel departed. "Poor kid. He's had the worst of it. He used to be such a happy child too."

"What happened?" Glen asked.

Mister Kidd sighed. "Tell me something, human. Glen. Why did you come here? I don't need the whole story; just give me the general gist."

"Like 'I'm here to destroy you?'"

"Is that your goal?"

Glen shook her head. "No. I came here at the request of a friend, to save someone she left behind a long time ago."

Mister Kidd nodded. "You are a helpful person, aren't you?"

"Normally, yeah." Glen said, thinking to her mistake with the Mechawyrm. "I have good intentions, at least."

Mister Kidd was silent for a long moment before he finally said, "After the war, we were prepared to slaughter any human who fell down here. We watched and waited, poised to harvest the souls as soon as we found them. As the years passed with no humans arriving, however, we gradually settled. We moved from the ruins to the rest of the underground, New Home and Dreemurr Castle were built, and many of us settled down and had families, myself included. We had a little boy. His name was Billburt, but everyone just called him 'Kidd'. He and Asriel were friends, and were always getting up to some mischief. We didn't mind; they were just kids, after all."

Glen sat down at the table, Mister Kidd doing so as well as he continued, "I come home to find Kidd and Asriel have a new friend. To my surprise, she's a little human girl. She didn't talk much, but she did tell us her name was Frisk."

"Frisk?" Glen said automatically out of surprise. Quickly catching herself, she said, "Sorry; please continue."

"Part of me wanted to turn her in to the queen, but she was a timid and kind child. We let her stay the night so me and the Missus can talk it over. Truth is, Asriel wasn't able to come over very often, and the Missus liked the idea of having a daughter. In the end, we decide to take Frisk in as our own."

"We warned them to be careful; Frisk had to wear a hooded cloak and a mask when she went out. We were worried it was a bit hard on her, but she seemed to understand. The three of them were inseperable; in the end, we had a room for Asriel too, for all the nights he'd end up staying over."

"And the Queen never noticed?" Glen asked.

"Not at first." Mister Kidd said. "We were careful to keep her humanity hidden when Asgore or Toriel came to pick their little prince up, and Frisk was very careful with her disguise. She seemed to really like it down here. She was such a sweet child. Of course, the ruse didn't last forever; our friends figured it out eventually, but by that point they too had grown to love the little human girl. We're pretty sure the Temmie Knights figured it out as well."

"The what?" Glen asked, frowning.

"The Temmie Knights. Asgore's top soldiers; they patrolled the entire Underground, keeping the peace. They're a stern group, but they too seemed to have a soft spot for our little girl. We eventually relaxed a little and let Frisk and Kidd spend more and more time outside."

Chuckling, Mister Kidd said, "They poked around New Home, sometimes going as far as Hotland and Waterfall. They were just playing, but I think it was Frisk's curiosity that pushed them further and further. Eventually, they even found their way to Dreemurr Castle, against the wishes of myself and my wife. There's relaxing, and then there's flaunting fate. Sure enough, one day, the three of them return home with the King and Queen. They were caught playing in the central garden, and the Queen caught Frisk taking her mask off to sniff a flower."

"We were worried the Queen would be angry; we'd hidden Frisk from them, essentially hiding one of the souls we'd need to escape the Underground. Fortunately, we were wrong. Maybe it was her own son standing protectively in front of Frisk that swayed her ... or maybe her anger following the war had ebbed as much as ours. Whatever the case, the Queen spared Frisk and allowed her to live peacefully in the Underground."

"For awhile, it was fantastic. Frisk was so happy to be able to move around without having to hide. Everyone fell in love with her too; she was so kind, so gentle. Even the Queen and King came to view her as family."

Mister Kidd's face fell. "And then Kidd got sick. We tried everything we could think of, all manner of medicines and curing magic we could find. The Queen herself tried her best, but something just kept making Kidd get worse and worse until one day, we woke up and found Kidd nothing but ash and Frisk gone. We searched and searched the Underground, the Royal Guard and the Temmie Knights assisting.

Mister Kidd's eyes stared down at the table as he and Glen sat in silence for what felt like a few minutes. "Eventually, one of the Temmie Knights found Frisk at the barrier, badly hurt. The Temmie knight did what they could to help her back, but Frisk ..." Mister Kidd drew in a shakey breath. "Frisk died just outside our house. Her soul faded before the Royal Scientist of the time ..." Mister Kidd frowned and shook his head. "Can't remember his name at the moment. Anyway, her soul was gone by the time he got here with a proper containment pod."

A long moment of silence passed through the room before Mister Kidd continued, "Losing both of our children was hard on me and the missus, but it hit the queen especially hard. The humans on the surface had once again taken one of ours; that Frisk was a human meant nothing. The Queen swore to collect the souls to breach the barrier and make the humans pay. King Asgore left not long after another human was discovered and immediately killed. Asriel came to live with us not long after. We were glad; it was nice to have a child in the house again, and aside from the occasional Temmie Knight checking in on us under Toriel's orders, it felt like we had a family again. The Missus passed away a few years ago after a long sickness; the new Royal Scientist tried to save her, but ultimately all we got back was an urn of ash."

Mister Kidd sighed and finished, "Not an entirely happy story, but hey; that's life, right?"

Glen didn't respond. She was still taking in the tale, her mind already working at it to find the correlation to her own reality and the fate of Asriel. This whole universe seemed like a play with the actors mixed up. Perhaps there were similarities to be discerned, similarities that might give her some idea of her Asriel's fate.

"Mister Kidd," Glen asked, "Could I see Kidd's Room? Frisks's as well, if it's not a problem."

"It's not a problem." Mister Kidd said, "But can I ask why?"

"The friend I came to rescue may have run into a similar situation. It's a longshot, but I might be able to find something in Kidd's or Frisk's room that'll explain what he was trying to do."

"He? Who is this friend, anyway?" Mister Kidd said, looking suspiciously at Glen. "And how in tarnation did he have a similar situation? Only eight humans have ever fallen down here."

"Nine." Glen said, "Assuming that Sans and Papyrus are on a false alarm."

She paused, remembering the strange versions of her friends. "Ugh. By the Creator ... Sans and Papyus! I completely forgot about them!"

There was simply too much to do: deal with the Mechawyrm, help Papyrus and Sans with the eighth child (as far as Glen was concerned, she didn't count), investigate the rooms of Kidd and Frisk for clues about her Asriel, and the ever-important find a way back to her friends and her reality.

"I can help you with Sans and Papyrus."

Mister Kidd and Glen turned to see Asriel standing in the stairwell, dressed in a fine purple cloak bearing the Delta Rune, the symbol of Queen Toriel and the monster kingdom. He walked down the stairs and said, "You need help, right?"

"Well, yeah." Glen said, glancing between Asriel and Mister Kidd. "But I didn't want to drag anyone else into it."

"Garamond ... Glen, I mean ... I want to know what happened to Frisk and Kidd too. I've been over their rooms and found nothing, but you're different. You're from a different world."

"In more ways than one." Glen added, but she did so under her breath.

"Maybe you'll see something we missed." Asriel said. "And I can relay anything you want to say to the skeleton brothers in the meantime."

Ultimately, Glen had no choice; she couldn't do everything at once.

"All right.' Glen said, nodding. "Tell them to be cautious of the new human. If they're kind, good; if they're going around killing monsters, do not hesitate in killing it. One way or the other, that kid represents an end to the Underground; I'd like to make sure it's a good one."


	29. Chapter 28 - Power Problems

**Chapter 28**

 **Power Problems**

Normally Sans found the shortcuts soothing. For a few moments, the world just slipped away and he felt like he was flying through a great empty void. It was those strange moments of weightlessness that Sans craved. Sometimes, if he was lucky, his dreams took him back there for hours.

Now, however, Sans found himself alert to the point of paranoia. Still holding Frisk's hand, Sans looked around the streams of color for signs of the one who attacked him and Glen. Part of him dreaded seeing that skull, his skull staring back in all it's black-boned glitchy horror.

He was so absorbed by looking for trouble that the sudden transition out of the shortcut caught him completely by surprise. They were all sitting at his usual table in the resort just outside of the core. It too was quite different in that reality, so much so that Sans found himself standing up and quickly leading Frisk out of the room as far from the stage (and the scantily clad cat and alligator ladies dancing there) as possible.

"Sorry about that, kid." Sans said, his cheekbones burning. "Nothing like that on the stage in my universe. Usually just me and a few other comics."

"Their dresses were pretty." Frisk said, her cheeks red. "Though I'm not sure why they were getting dressed in front of everyone."

"Er, yeah. Let's go with that."

The lobby of what was Mettaton Resort in his dimension was dimly lit and had a decidedly sleazy look to it. More monsters whose virtue had a decidedly monetary value filled the lobby, some even waving at Sans as he passed. One, a bunny woman who reeked of alcohol, threw her arms around him.

"Aww, Sansy, it's been forever!" She crooned, swaying unsteadily from one foot to the other. "I've been hopin' you'd drop by soon."

"Oh, uh, sorry 'bout that." Sans said, flashing her a smile. "I'm actually just passin' through on the moment. Royal Guard business and all that."

"Oh, Sansy, don't be like that." She said, hugging against his arm. "Stay with me a little while."

"I would if I could." Sans said, pulling away as gently as he could. "But Pap already wants my skull. He catches me slacking off again, and he's gonna smack me one."

The bunny lady looked put out for a moment, but her eyes soon fell on someone else in the lobby. Sans watched as she departed, her voice audible over the din of the seedy hotel as she said, "Ohh, Nacarat! There you are, you sweet thing! Where have you been hiding?"

Sans wiped his skull as he led Frisk and Flowey out the hotel's back door.

"This place is really starting to get to me." He said. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."

"Are we going to the surface?" Frisk asked.

The fear in Frisk's tone gave Sans pause. "Do you want to go back to the surface?"

"I ... I don't know." Frisk said, staring down at the ground. "There's nothing up there for me anymore. I'm ... I'm all alone."

"Frisk." Flowey said, looking at her with sad eyes. "Aren't you forgetting something? I'm here!"

"So am I, kiddo." Sans said, rubbing the kids shoulder. "Don't worry; I won't leave you behind. As to where we're going ... well, with any luck, we'll end up back with Glen and Jake. From there, maybe we can go home with them."

"And where is that?" Flowey asked. "And don't think I forgot that you just saved us from you. What was that about?"

Sighing, Sans said, "Look, I'll tell ya, but we gotta move. All right?"

Flowey bobbed his 'head'. Sans returned the gesture and motioned for Frisk to follow him into the core facility.

Sans explained the situation as best as he could in brief. The core concept was fairly simple; there were an infinite number of universes all based on the decisions people made. Some were nice, others were bad; Sans came from a bad one (though he didn't elaborate as to the cause for obvious reasons), and their current reality was not a good one either. Glen, however, came from a good one, and Sans hoped that by getting back to her and showing her the partial rune imprint that perhaps they could get back to Glen's reality.

"So he really was you." Flowey said, "I had to wonder; every other time I bumped into him, I ..."

"Flowey." Frisk said, "We weren't gonna talk about that."

"About the resets and saving?" Sans asked, enjoying the look of shock it brought on their faces. "I know all about it, kid. Outta curiosity, how many times you been through the Underground?"

"I-I've never been here before." Frisk said, looking a little panicked. "I swear, Sans; this is the first time!"

"She's telling the truth." Flowey said. "I used to be able to do it too, but haven't been able to since Frisk came down here."

"And how many times did you reset?"

"Lost count." Flowey admitted.

"Flowey?" Frisk said, looking at her boot-inhabiting friend.

"I tried to make things better." Flowey said defensively. "Tried bringing my parents back together, tried to save the other humans who fell. Even tried working with Doctor Alphys to take down the barrier. That didn't last long; she's not exactly a fun person to work with."

"I'll bet." Sans said, thinking of the monsters he'd met thus far.

"Well, none of it worked. The more I tried to fix things, the worse they seemed to get. In the end, I just reset and let things run their course." Flowey shook his head. "About the nicest thing I can say is that it could be worse. It could be a lot worse."

Leylines in the metal walls of the core facility pulsed with energy as they passed. It was impressive to think that the massive facility powered the entire underground. The area looked identical to that of Sans's dimension, a strange fact that gave him some comfort. He supposed that no matter how bad that dimension was, they still needed power.

"Mister Sans," Frisk said as they walked through the hallways. "Was there a Frisk in your world?"

"Yeah." Sans said, glancing down the adjoining corridors. "She didn't do so well; got possessed by something bad."

"Something bad?"

"Yeah. When my friend Glen picked her up, this black stuff leaked from her eyes and mouth. Ichor, we called it; it was corrosive, and spread quickly. We lost a few monsters to it after an accident in Alphys's lab."

Frisk brought her hands to her mouth. In a small voice, she said, "I'm sorry."

"For what, kiddo? Wasn't your universe."

"Yes, but it was still kinda me."

Chuckling, Sans stopped and crouched down so he could look Frisk in the eye.

"That skeleton who attacked us near Snowdin was kinda me too. Would you say we're the same?"

Frisk gave him a timid smile. Before Sans could respond, she threw her arms around his neck.

"I'm still sorry." She whispered.

Sans was struck speechless. To think that a child with such a kind soul was in any way connected to the corrupted child who killed so many was simply mind-boggling. The force that corrupted her ... the one Asgore called Chara ... just what kind of thing was she to corrupt something to pure?

Sans gave her a pat on the back and his best smile. "Thanks, kiddo. With any luck, we'll both end up somewhere better."

Frisk nodded, still smiling. She kept a hold on his hand as they walked, the other holding firmly onto Flowey's boot.

In Sans's universe, people generally avoided the Core. It supplied power to the entire Underground, and no one wanted to have an accident and be responsible for everyone's lights going out. The fact that it was just as shiny and clean in this dimension as it was in Sans's home dimension struck him as odd. Given the State of the rest of the Underground, Sans expected to find the place in shambles, barely working. If anything, the core looked in even better shape.

The reason why skittered into view along a side corridor. It was a metal robot about the size of a dog, its six metal legs moving in a very spider-like pattern. It seemed to check the wiring integrated into the wall for a few moments before continuing down the corridor. Sans froze, holding Frisk back as it slowly walked across the corridor without paying them any attention.

"W-what was that?" Frisk asked, clutching Sans's arm.

"Dunno. Didn't have those back home." Sans said. "Better leave it be."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Flowey said, his eyes still on the robot. It sported a pair of front pincers that did not look friendly.

Sans suspected the machines were from that universe's Alphys. The design was efficient, but very basic, much that that of Mettaton Mark 1. That worried him a little; did they have cameras? Sensors? Were they transmitting that data to Alphys? He was close to his goal, but if she was as paranoid as everyone else, she likely had a failsafe in the core to shut it down at a moments notice.

Unfortunately, there just wasn't anything to do about it. Maybe Alphys wasn't watching their feeds (assuming they had them of course), but she would definitely have an alarm programmed into them if they should be destroyed. Leaving them be was the smart choice, even if they gave Sans the creeps.

Eventually, they reached the room Sans was looking for. It contained one of several power transfer circuits accessible through the console in the back of the room. There, he hoped he could patch into the power network and draw power without drawing undue attention.

"All right." He said, hurrying to the console. "This'll take a minute to set up. Keep an eye on the door and let me know if anyone's coming, okay?"

"Okay." Frisk set Flower near one side of the door frame before taking up a position beside the other side.

Sans worked quickly, pulling apart the console and rigging up connections to the chunk of crystal with the rune imprint. It was tricky work, but Sans still remembered his way around machinery enough to get it together in a few minutes.

"There." He said, setting the crystal in the makeshift tray. "All right. I don't know exactly what's gonna happen, so everyone get ready."

Frisk picked up Flowey and nodded at Sans. "Ready!"

Nodding in reply, Sans put one hand on the crystal and one hand on the exposed conduit. The jolt of energy pouring into him made him shudder a little, but after so many last stands, he was used to the sensation of energy flooding his system. He took that energy and channeled it through his magic into the crystal, willing it to fill the runes. It only took seconds for the dimensional awareness to hit him. As the power increased, however, he began to percieve the true immensity of it all. So many realities coursed through his mind, each offering a glimpse of what lay beyond. It was far too much to take in at once, but he tried his best to focus his thoughts on his mysterious landlady.

For a while, he thought it wouldn't work. There were too many realities passing over him, around him, through him ... far too many to possibly single any one out. Perhaps it required the full rune to work properly; perhaps magical energy was causing interference.

His eyes widened; there she was! Same tall human woman, strong build, wearing a green-and-gray striped shirt! She was walking upstairs with a tall armless monster.

Eagerly, Sans mentally reached forward to bridge the gap between both universes to allow them passage.

Power suddenly coursed through him; the imprint of the rune was drawing unprecedented amount of energy to create the gateway, far more than Sans anticipated. He tried to pull away, but found himself unable to move.

"Sans!" Frisk called out, moving toward him. Before she could reach him, however, everything went dead. The console, the lights ... the entire core just shut down.

Sans fell to the floor, barely able to stand. Frisk hurried over to him and helped him up.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." He said, voice shaking a little. "A little shocked at this turn of events, that's all."

"I saw it ... for just a second, I saw something in the air." Frisk said, sounding hopeful. "Was that what you were trying to do?"

"Yeah." He said, "I guess breakin' through takes more power than the core produces."

Emergency lighting came back online. To Sans's surprise, the machinery only showed slight damage; apparently the sudden draw in power triggered a failsafe. Still, that meant there was no way to use the core to power the Inverse Harmonius, not without finding and disabling Alphys's fail-safe first. That rather limited their options.

"Uh, we got company." Flowey said, peeking his head out the door. "More bugbots heading this way."

"Right." Sans said, stumbling to the door with Frisk's help. "We'll head up to New Home. The lift's not to far from here, and it's just a little ways from Castle Dreemurr."

"Castle Dreemurr?" Flowey said, as Frisk picked up his boot. "Are you crazy? Asgore will kill Frisk on sight!"

"I know." Sans said, "But we need power. The Core's out, but I think there's somethin' hidden in Castle Dreemurr that might fit the bill. For now, we need to lie low."

They reached the lift. Sans was still a bit shakey, but managed to reach the controls and get the lift moving before he sat down on the floor.

Frisk sat beside him, Flowey's boot in her hands.

"Are you really okay?" She asked, concern in her eyes.

Sans ruffled the kids hair. "Don't worry about me, kiddo. Just a bit tired, that's all. Might take a bit of a nap."

"It's okay." She said, nestling beside him. "I'm tired too."

"Really?" Flowey said, giving them both a dirty look. "You wanna sleep here?"

"Just a few minutes." Sans said, consciousness already fading. "Wake us up ... when we get to the top."

Sans closed his eyes. It seemed like it had been forever since he had a nice rest. Unfortunately, his dreams were anything but nice.

He dreamt he was running through a forest with trees made of brass. Something was chasing him, a bunch of somethings that skittered after him on multiple legs. The sound of their feet hitting the metal ground filled him with dread, pushing him to run further and further to no avail. The woods grew thicker and thicker until it was a struggle just to make a little headway. Just as Sans turned to face whatever was chasing him, he was jerked back to the waking world as something lifted him up in the air by his feet.

"Sans!" Frisk cried out. She too was held up in the air by a mechanical hand.

"Oh, my." Said an artificial voice filled with sadistic delight. "Someone's been very naughty."

"Mettaton." Sans said, recognizing the robot from their encounter in Snowdin.

"Hello, Darling." Mettaton said, a satisfied smile on his metal face. "Miss me?"

"Not really. I've always found you a bit cold."

"Ooh, and funny too." Mettaton said, pulling Sans closer. "A shame you're a filthy traitor. What will your brother think?"

"He ain't gonna think nothin'." Said a voice Sans didn't want to hear. NegaSans stepped into the lift and approached Sans. Sans flinched as NegaSans grabbed him, but NegaSans simply pulled the neck of his coat and pulled it off Sans. Sans didn't resist, but the moment NegaSans's back was turned, Sans dug into the pockets of his coat for the crystal with the imprint only to find it gone. A quick glance around didn't turn it up in Mettaton's hands either. For that matter, Flowey seemed to be missing; his boot still lay by the door, but there was no sign of the flower himself.

"Thank you." NegaSans said as he re-donned his coat. "Alphys wants a word with you, whoever the hell you really are."

"Sans!" Frisk said, desperately reaching for him.

NegaSans raised an eyebrow at her. "Right; the human. She's comin' with me."

"You'll leave her alone if you know what's good for you." Sans said, focusing his blue eye on NegaSans.

A look of fear crossed NegaSans face for a moment ... but only for a moment. He quickly met Sans's gaze with a red-eyed gaze of his own. "I think I'll take my chances ... and if I even see an outline of a Gaster Blaster, I'll make sure your little friend here pays for it. Got it?"

Sans met Frisk''s terrified gaze for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Got it."

"Good." NegaSans nodded at Mettaton, who promptly dropped Frisk.

"Run for it, kid!" Sans shouted. Frisk took his advice to heart; the moment her feet touched the ground she was off like a shot. Mettaton made a grab for her with all three hands, but Frisk was already out of the lift.

"Dammit!" NegaSans said, eyes narrowing. "Great. Now I gotta go chase her."

"I could assist." Mettaton said, sounding strangely eager.

"Nah, Alphys wants our friend here right away." To Sans, NegaSans said, "This ain't goodbye. I'll see you in the Labs, punk. Once Alphys is through with you, you and I are gonna have a nice long chat."

"Great." Sans said as Mettaton's arms bound his arms and legs to his body. "There's that to look forward to then."


	30. Chapter 29 - Investigations

**Chapter 29**

 **Investigations**

Mister Kidd led Glen upstairs to a single door practically covered with crayon drawings, the largest of which proclaimed 'Frisk's Room'.

The door opened at a touch from Mister Kidd's magic, revealing a room that clearly belonged to a small child.

"My son's room is next door." Mister Kidd said, a sad look on his face.

"Got it." Glen said. Sensing Mister Kidd's reluctance, she said, "I can take it from here, if you want."

"Thank you." Mister Kidd said gratefully before walking back down the stairs.

Once she was alone, Glen closed the door and had a proper look around.

As said before, it was a typical kid's room. A small bed lay against the center of the back wall, covered with several colorful quilts that looked to have been handmade. There were quite a few toys as well, likely scavenged from the Junkyard. They were clean, though the stuffed animals showed signs of mending.

There were a few books too, mostly kid books, though Glen spotted a few titles for older readers. They too bore the look of the Junkyard, their covers tattered and the pages water-stained.

Glen picked out a familiar title and flipped through the pages for a few moments.

"And the thing about legends, of course, is that they are legendary." She read aloud. Pratchett was referring to a dragon; here in the Underground, the child was equally something from legend. The only difference was that this legend was just a little girl.

She sat down on the bed and stared at the little girls room. There were more crayon drawings inside; apparently, drawing was something every Frisk enjoyed. Most were pictures of other monsters such as Mister and Missus Kidd and their son, the old turtle Gerber, Asriel and his parents. There was another figure there as well, in several of the portraits, but for some reason, Frisk had scratched out the image with a black crayon. Glen peered as close to the page as she could in hopes of spotting an imprint, but ultimately found nothing.

Pulling a picture of Frisk, Asriel, and Monster Kidd from the wall, Glen sat down on the small bed. Glen knew that her Frisk was probably fine, that there were likely thousands of boy and girl Frisks out there that were fine, that in some tangent universe, even this Frisk lived to an old age, possibly even marrying one of the monsters and having children. Still, thinking of the sweet little girl as being dead filled her with sadness.

She shook her head, banishing such thoughts. She had a job to do, several in fact, and couldn't afford to be moping around. Glen checked under the sheets and pillows, checked the bedframe and mattress for any kind of secret compartment, and went through every book checking to see if there was a hidden journal hiding behind the cover of a novel. Her search turned up nothing; no journal, no notes, not so much as a hidden paperclip.

She replaced the bedding and the toys once she was finished, feeling it was the respectful thing to do. As she knelt to pick up a stuffed blue camel with wrinkled knees, she spotted another toy under the dresser. Figuring she'd likely dropped it in her search, she reached under the dresser and pulled out the toy. It was a doll of Frisk herself, likely made by her from the looks of the rough stitching. It was simple doll, having a vaguely human-shape, brown felt hair, and a purple and pink shirt. Seeing it brought a smile to her face.

"Why, hello, Miss Frisk." Glen said softly. "And what were you doing under there? Sneaking around, no doubt? Trying to learn all my secrets? That'll get you into trouble, you know."

The doll didn't reply, the thin strips of black cloth that were its eyes staring impassively back at Glen.

Chuckling to herself, Glen moved to set the doll on the bed with the others and promptly froze; as she moved the doll, she heard a crackle of paper. She twisted the doll's torso gently and heard it again. Another inspection of the doll revealed that the stitching along the right side was quite loose; Glen was able to pull the thread free quite easily, allowing her to search within the doll and pull out a folded piece of paper.

Glen sat down on the bed again as she unfolded the paper. It was a letter, written hurriedly with a blue pencil.

The letter read:

* * *

 _Dear Mister and Missus Kidd._

 _I don't have much time to write this. By the time you read this, Kidd will already be dead and I'll be gone. Kidd wanted to keep our plan secret, but if something goes wrong, I think you should know the truth._

 _Kidd isn't sick; he's been eating the golden flowers. I didn't know until he told me a few minutes ago. He heard Asriel's parents talking about how it would take a human and a monster soul to cross the barrier and ... and he wants me to take his soul. I tried to talk him out of it; I tried to tell him I didn't care about the surface, that I was happy being down here with all of you, but it's too late. He's already dying. He showed me a book on monster souls, about how his soul won't last long outside his body, so I have to keep a hand on him while I write this so the soul will go straight to me._

 _He's told me his plan; together we can get to the surface. Kidd wants to find more souls, but I think we might be able to get help. I have a friend in a city not far from where I fell, a town guard named Adams. If I can talk to him, tell him what has happened down here, I think he can help. He's ... a little strange, but I've seen him use magic before. Maybe he can help, or maybe he can persuade someone to help us. Either way, we'll find a way to bring down the barrier and free everyone._

 _When this is over, I hope you can forgive me ... forgive us._

 _Love, Frisk._

* * *

Glen stared at the paper for a long time, drinking it in. Kidd sacrificed himself to join his soul with Frisk; the two went to the surface, only for Frisk to return mortally wounded ... by humans. The thought filled her with anger; Frisk went to the surface for help, and some bastard killed her for it. That she hadn't attacked him didn't surprise Glen; while merged souls were powerful, Frisk wouldn't hurt a fly under normal circumstances. Injured, she just returned home, likely to apologize.

It didn't explain how Asriel ended up as Flowey, but Glen could probably paint a picture of the scenario back in her reality. Asriel and another fallen human came up with a similar plan, left the Underground, and also returned injured. From there was anyone's guess, though from Glen's experience, possession and soul transferrance tended to involve the remains. Frisk's body, Asriel's ashes ... if Glen could locate their final resting places, perhaps she could figure out what prompted the transformation.

That still left the question of Kidd, however; if he or Frisk had taken Asriel's role, where were they? Clearly not in Flowey Village, Glen thought with a shudder, remembering the sea of far too cheerful faces. For that matter, he may not even be in the form of a flower. Everything else in that universe was different, after all. Whatever brought them back could've taken the form of anything, really; a moldsmal, perhaps, or a froggit.

"Don't worry, Frisk." She said, smoothing the doll's felt hair. "I'll figure this out." She started to put the doll back on the bed, but leaving it torn open seemed wrong. She decided to carry it with her until she could mend it, slipping the doll into one of her tool belt pouches so that it appeared to be poking its head out of the side.

Mister Kidd was downstairs in the kitchen, two magical hands moving in front of him to wash the dishes.

"That was fast." He said, not turning to look at her. "Did you find something?"

There are times that the whole truth and nothing but the truth is ultimate, and that anything less is an insult to everyone concerned. This, as far as Glen was concerned, was not one of those times. Still, the truth made a good framework.

"Yeah." She said. "I found a letter. Hard to read, but apparently your son realized he was dying and merged his soul with Frisk so they could go to the surface and find a way to free everyone."

The magic hands lowered the dish Mister Kidd was currently cleaning. When he didn't speak, Glen continued, "They didn't succeed, but that doesn't make your son any less of a hero. He saw death coming, and tried to make it something great. I can only hope I face my own death like that."

Mister Kidd didn't reply. He just stood there, motionless for at least a full minute before Glen finally broke the silence.

"Mister Kidd, where did you bury Frisk?"

Mister Kidd said, bowing his head. "I ... I wasn't thinking straight, and after we found both my son and her dead, I thought that maybe she had something to do with it."

Glen took a deep breath. While she understood Mister Kidd's pain, Frisk was far from the villain here, and deserved a decent burial. "Where did you dump the body?"

"The Temmie Knights took it." Mister Kidd said. "Back to the Ruins. Looking back, I think they knew the truth ... about why Frisk went to the surface. They told me they wanted to let her rest with their own, somewhere beautiful. By the time my wife convinced me I'd been a fool, the Ruins were closed."

"Well, don't worry about that." Glen said. "I tend to make my own way. On that note, I should be on my way."

"Miss Glen." Mister Kidd said, turning to face her with tear-stained cheeks. "If you find where they laid her to rest ... could you say something over her grave for me?"

"Of course." Glen said, her voice solemn. "What would you like me to say?"

"Tell her ..." Mister Kidd seemed to struggle internally for a few moments before sighing and shaking his head. "Tell her I'm sorry ... and that I miss them both."

"You got it." Glen said. She was almost out the door before she remembered something. Snapping her fingers, she turned back to Mister Kidd and said, "You got some white paint around here I could borrow?"

Glen left the Kidd residence in a somber mood ... after reapplying her skeleton facade, of course. She approached the gate, where Gerson and his team were busily working on repairs.

"Ah, Miss skeleton!" The old turtle said with a cackle. "Heading out?"

"Yup." Glen said. "Listen; that thing was tunneling under the ground in the Junkyard. Could it do what here?"

"What, in town? Hah! Not a chance." Gerson said. "This town's build on the old foundry; when it went up, molten metal went everywhere. You shoulda seen how much dirt we had to bring in to cover it all up!"

"So there's a metal plate beneath the entire town?" Glen said.

"Yup. Iron and steel, probably a dozen or so feet thick."

"Good." Glen paused and amended. "Well, it's good for you, anyway. Not so good for the Underground, but I'll worry about that later."

"You plan on takin' that thing on?" Gerson said, sounding impressed. "Good on ya. Nice to see someone here with a bit of spirit for a change!"

"Do you have a way of contacting someone if it comes back?" Glen asked.

"Well, I could always ask ol' Clamhead to call his wife up in Waterfall. She runs the general store there, not far from Captain Alphys's place."

An image of the surly warrior lizard filled Glen's head. It was strange to think of her as being connected to the stuttering anime geek of her own universe.

Shaking her head, Glen said, "All right. Um, could you point me in the direction of Waterfall?"

"Sure thing, Missy. Head out the gates, follow the wall to the back of town and go straight until you see the mound where we throw the paper goods that can't be salvaged. Yer gonna want to head around that, under the old lean-to where we've been tossing stuff that's just good for metal; after that ...'

"Thank you.' Glen said hurriedly. "I think I can make it from there."

Gerson shrugged. "Suit yerself. If ya get lost, just come on back and I'll write it down for ya. Wa ha ha!"

Glen left the elderly turtle still chuckling. She reminded her strongly of Teria's grandfather, an elderly lion who loved to pick good-naturedly on his niece's human wife.

She shook her head; it wasn't the time to get nostalgic. She had too much to do. Since she had no way of knowing where her little accident was currently digging, her most pressing concern was the fallen human. Papyrus and Sans could be in trouble. Glen needed to get to Snowdin. Hopefully, finding Waterfall wouldn't take too long.


	31. Chapter 30 -Resonance of Purpose

**Chapter 30**

 **Resonance of Purpose**

Jake lifted his monitor at the sound of the door creaking open. Toriel was standing in the doorway, a dish of some sort in her hands. He started to rise when she quickly held a finger to her mouth.

"Shh!"

Jake settled down and watched as the Bossun woman approached the sleeping form of Frisk and carefully laid the dish on the floor beside her bed. Jake scanned the object on the dish and identified it as some sort of confection due to the high level of sugars.

Toriel patted Jake on the head before leaving the room silently. Jake remained active, however. Something about the room resonated with the memory files tucked away in his memory. It was a fairly large room, complete with a wardrobe full of clothes, plenty of toys, and a surprisingly number of shoes in different sizes, but there was something else that seemed to stick in Jake's data-banks.

He remembered another room, one with a young boy and a little girl. No matter how much they squabbled, the boy always went over to the girl's bed at night and made sure she was tucked in properly. He called her 'sister', and she in turn called him 'brother'.

Brother ... the term seemed important somehow, but Jake's processes couldn't identify why. As the minutes passed, he felt a sudden compulsion to locate the boy; perhaps he could help Jake make some sense of the data.

Jake looked at Frisk. The little girl was sound asleep, her small face peaceful. The goat-woman named Toriel had treated her with kindness that could only be described as motherly. She would keep the little girl safe. While Jake's authority subroutines demanded he stay with her in hopes of finding Glen, his current master, he nevertheless found himself standing up and approaching the door. The old data-files were useful, telling him exactly how to open the door with his front paws without making much noise.

He walked through the tidy house softly, ultimately finding Toriel asleep in a chair beside the hearth. He started to activate a fire suppression system to prevent her from injuring herself, only to realize the fire itself was not actually burning; it was merely pleasantly warm, and caused no damage to the log it sat upon.

Jake considered waking up Toriel to let her know of his departure, but ultimately decided against it. He still couldn't access any kind of verbal communication, and visual communication would take time. He wanted to be gone before Frisk woke up ... before either of them could wake up. He wasn't part of their story.

Jake froze, that final stream of data confusing him. Their story? What did that mean? How did he know he wasn't a part of it? He tried to compute some sort of satisfactory answer, but ultimately came up with nothing. Not even the memory data gave him an answer.

Shaking his head, he turned around and left Toriel asleep by the fire. Going back wasn't an option, as his scans determined there were no exits that way. Fortunately, he'd already scanned the house and discovered the central staircase led to an underground corridor.

Jake walked down the corridor slowly, scanning the air for particulates in hopes of determining where the corridor might lead. The readings didn't match any location he'd visited recently, but he continued (doggedly ... heh heh) scanning.

He paused. Where had that thought come from? Finding no answer, he continued walking. The corridor was quite long, eventually turning ninety degrees to the left toward a small chamber with a large door.

Scans of the area indicated a definite drop in temperature, as well as particulates indicating vegetative life, namely pine trees or some similar conifer. He hurried to the door and pushed against it with all his might. To his surprise, they opened quite easily. He staggered through, only to stop inches away from a familiar slipper.

It appeared to be the bio-form known as Sans; the bone structure and the face matched Jake's files on the skeleton, but the colors were wrong. The bones and clothes were black, the sweater beneath the coat was red, and the face looked so strange, Jake was certain the circuits that translated visual data for him were glitching.

The skeleton who looked like Sans stared at Jake, the larger of his red eyes bearing two irises around a tiny black pupil, the outer yellow and the inner as blue as the real Sans's coat.

"There you are." Error!Sans said, "I've been looking for you, doggy."

Jake began to sense subspace anomalies forming around the skeleton. In a flash, memory files clicked into place. This was the creature that attacked Glen, Sans, and Jake in the middle of what Sans called 'a shortcut'. Already the being was causing Jake's sensor data to overload as it has before. Jake shut off everything but his visual and auditory senses to prevent another overload, but not before the word 'ERROR!' appeared again and again in the corrupted data.

"That's my name." Error!Sans said, grinning all the wider. "Don't wear it out. Oh, that's right; you can't talk."

Jake let out a growl. He hoped it would intimidate Error!Sans, but once again his information files proved incorrect. Error!Sans simply laughed at Jake and shook his head.

"I've destroyed hundreds of timelines, mechamutt ... maybe even thousands. What can I say? It's hard to keep count when you're having so much fun!"

Error!Sans thrust a hand at Jake. Blue threads shot through the air, wrapping themselves around Jake's limbs and lifting him from the ground. jake tried to open his back panel to use his interior energy buster, but more thick threads wrapped around his back, preventing the panel from opening. Jake yelped, but there was nothing he could do. The threads were surprisingly strong; even a blast of electricity from this front emitters did nothing.

Error!Sans slowly approached the floating dog until his face was only inches away from Jake's monitor. "What makes you think you have any chance of stopping me from tearing you apart and taking your ..."

Error!Sans frowned, his corrupted eyes squinting at Jake as though searching for an errant pixil in Jake's monitor. His smile faded, only to be replaced with a look of suspicion.

"It's missing." Error!Sans said slowly, as though not believing what he was saying. "I can see inside you, where your soul should be ... but it's not there. What have you done with it?"

Jake barked loudly at Error!Sans, still struggling to free himself from the blue threads.

"One of the others." Error!Sans said to himself. "The new abomination ... no, that human woman, the one with the green and gray striped shirt. She must have it. Where is she, dog? Tell me, or I'll tear you apart!"

Jake was at a loss. His weapons were ineffective, his mobility was nonexistent, and the data Error!Sans wanted wasn't in his memory banks. There seemed to be nothing he could do to stop his destruction.

A stick hit Error!Sans right in the face. It didn't do any visible damage, but the shock of it made Error!Sans release his threads from Jake. Jake landed on all four legs, his back panel sliding open and the blaster attachment rising out. He fired at Error!Sans, but the strange skeleton blinked out of existence only to appear a safe distance away.

A hand touched Jake's side. Jake turned to see it was little Frisk, her small face a mask of determination.

"Little brat!" Error!Sans said with a scowl. He raised his hand, but this time Jake didn't wait for the threads. Barking may not have worked, but Glen had Jake hooked up to her personal database, which included a directory labelled 'Wrhse13' that contained among many strange and bizarre files a single sound file: 'marsden dotte emm-pee-three'. (sorry; fanfiction net has issues with extensions apparently)

Jake blasted the file as loud as his speakers could handle. The effect was immediate; as the sound reverberated off the stone walls of the corridor, the look of anger on Error!Sans's face became one of bliss. True tears, separate from the strange teartrail-like markings on Error!Sans's face fell down the skeleton's cheekbones. The blue threads fell to the ground and faded from existence as Error!Sans sank to his knees.

Jake nudged Frisk, only to find her in tears as well, a look of pure happiness on her face. He was still at a loss for what to do when his speakers suddenly gave out under the strain.

The music died with a crackle of static. Jake tensed in anticipation of Error!Sans's resumed attacks, but the strange skeleton simply looked at them for a long moment before saying, "What was I doing?"

Jake waited cautiously as Error!Sans looked around in confusion. After a few moments, he shook his skull and said, "I-I gotta go ..."

With that, Error!Sans was gone. Jake waited a few moments before deciding that he would likely not return for a little while.

Hearing a sniffle, Jake turned to see Frisk rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. Jake sat on his hind-quarters and put a paw on her shoulders.

"I'm all right." She signed to him. "What happened? The black skeleton was shooting something at us, and then ... I can't remember."

Jake considered his options for response for several moments before tilting his head forty-five degrees and displaying his 'puzzled' face.

Frisk giggled and rubbed his head. "Silly doggy! Come on; we really shouldn't be here. Mom will get mad."

Frisk turned back to the door that led to Toriel's house, only to find the doors closed. There were no handles on their side, and Jake discovered that pushing them had no effect. Whether through magic or mechanics, the doorway was apparently one way only.

All trace of happiness left Frisk's face. She tried again and again, banging her fists on the door in desperation to no avail. She even tried calling Toriel's cellphone; while Frisk could not speak, she and Toriel had figured out some simple tapping rhythms that gave her some basic communication: yes, no, help, that sort of thing. Unfortunately (and quite strangely), the phone-line picked up to the sound of another dog barking inquisitively. Jake tried to bark in reply, but found his speakers still non-functional.

"It's no good." Said a voice that made Jake growl immediately. "It's a one-way door. Even your dog's blaster won't make a dent. You're stuck out here!"

Flowey was back, having emerged from the small mound of dirt in the middle of the room. Jake moved in front of Frisk and growled, but Flowey lifted his petals in supplication.

"Oh, don't mind me; I've learned my lesson ... but have you?" Flowey asked, looking at Frisk. "I've been watching you, making friends with the froggits and the whimsuns, buying donuts from the spiders ... you think you're real clever, aren't you? Befriending all the monsters? Ha! Don't you realize in this world, it's kill or be killed? Well, you'd better realize it soon; you'll soon be out of the Ruins, where the rest of the Underground is waiting to kill you and steal your soul!"

Frisk trembled as the little flower let out a high-pitched evil laugh. "Good luck, Frisk! You're going to need it where you're going!"

Flowey laughed again. Jake lunged at the flower, but it dove beneath the dirt and was gone in seconds.

Hearing a sniffle, Jake turned to see Frisk crying. He walked over to her and gave her another pat on the back. As she looked at him with tear-stained eyes, Jake again felt the strange resonance with the data files, this time producing an image; another face, that of the boy who lived in the room with his sister. He was crying too.

Jake's programming told him that he belonged to Glen Adams Soleil, and if not to her, then to some person named Finn Cresste. In that moment, however, he realized his programming allowed for him to name other owners, should the need arise. Looking at the little girl's face, Jake knew the need had arisen.

"New user accepted." Crackled an automated voice from Jake's speakers as his self-repair systems patched them back together. "Frisk is recognized as the owner of this unit."

Frisk put a finger on her chest, a look of surprise on her face as she pointed it at Jake. Letting out an affirmative bark, Jake nudged Frisk's side. She looked confused until he did it again, crouching down on his legs. Realization in her eyes, she smiled and climbed on Jake's back.

With another bark, Jake ran down the corridor, Frisk giggling as she held him tightly. Toriel would come looking for her sooner or later, and until that time, Jake would keep his little master safe. After all, now it was his story too.


	32. Chapter 31 - Crabby

**Chapter 31**

 **Crabby**

Asriel walked through the ruins of one of the homes in the former town of Glencove. There wasn't much left; what wasn't burnt to ash looked to have been chopped, crushed, and in one case chewed. The fires were all dead now, with only a few smoldering ashen piles still letting out a plume of smoke.

Most disturbingly of all, however, was that no one remained. It wasn't that the residents were dead; while there was no shortage of ash, there weren't any leftover clothes or personal effects to indicate anything more than simple wood ash. There were no lone piles of ash either; while it was impossible to tell if everyone survived, it was clear that the fire that destroyed Glencove had not claimed the lives of its citizens.

"Then where are they?" Asriel asked, musing over the remains of a dresser.

He was still trying to wrap his head around it when he heard Golemite shout, "GOT YA!"

"Hey! Let me go!"

Asriel ran out of the building and hurried toward the back of his friend. As he rounded the massive golem, he came to a halt, his eyes on the figure struggling in Golemite's massive hand.

"You." Asriel said, momentarily taken aback.

"Yeah, it's me!" Snapped Lundra and Meiah's daughter, Shye, her black fur looking puffy as she tried the age-old feline trick of puffing out her hair to look bigger and more threatening. It didn't work. "Tell Schist-for-brains here to let go of me before I scream 'kidnappers'!"

"Take a look around, fuzzball." Golemite said, glowing eyes narrowed. "There ain't anyone around to hear ya. Now what're ya goin' followin' us, girlie?"

She crossed her arms and pouted. The effect was somewhat diminished given she was hanging upside down.

"Fine." Golemite said. "Azzie, get me that rope from your pack so we can tie the little miss up for her trip home."

"Don't you dare!" She said, her face livid.

Asriel laughed. He couldn't help it; the sight of the upside-down bunny-eared cat-girl glaring defiantly at Golemite who was easily four times her size was too funny for him not to laugh.

"It's not funny." Shye said sullenly, crossing her arms again.

"I'm sorry." Asriel said, shaking his head. "I just ... lost control for a minute there."

He walked over to her and asked, "But you were following us, right? You wanted to see if we'd find the bugs."

"Did you see them?" She asked, eyes widening.

"No, but we saw what they did to the trees in your father's grove." Asriel said. "And looking at this town ... I dunno, I can't help but feel there's some connection."

Shye and Golemite stared at him in silence.

Feeling a little embarressed, Asriel rubbed the back of his head and said, "I mean, there's no proof or anything, but-"

Tink.

Asriel froze at the sound of something thin and metal hitting the metal plating behind him. He slowly turned and saw ... it.

It was several meters behind him; roughly his height though easily three times as wide because of its limbs; there were eight in all: six legs and the two crab-like metal claws curled up in front of the creature's flat circular body. Two startlingly life-like eyes peered out from the very front of the body, emerging on stalk-like metal rods as it slowly approached, claws pressed against its lower body.

Asriel felt frozen in place as the crab-like machine drew near, bulbous eyes blinking.

Letting out a near-deafening roar, Golemite tossed Shye behind him and advanced on the crab-bot. He brought his hands down to crush the creature, but the crab scuttled out of the way just in time. It immediately skittered closer, grabbed Golemite's hard hat, and took off as fast as its metal legs could carry it.

"Hey!" Golemite shouted. "Dat's property of da Skyway Repair Crew!"

Golemite took off after the crab, his massive feet leaving large imprints in the metal ground. Asriel followed behind, only to find himself joined shortly by Shye. She kept up with him easily, her orange eyes darting toward him briefly.

The crab robot was surprisingly fast for its size. It seemed to be gaining ground even when Golemite was at top speed. Asriel followed with Shye passing in a matter of moments, but even the long-eared cat-girl couldn't keep up with Golemite's sheer momentum.

Asriel pushed himself until his breath came in heaving gasps. He tried to keep going, but his body refused. He fell to his knees, his arms barely able to support him as he struggled to catch his breath.

At touch on his shoulder made him look up. Shye was standing in front of him, hands on her knees as she bent over him.

"Are you okay?" She asked, orange eyes filled with worry.

He barely managed a nod. "Just ... tired. Golemite ...'

"Your friend?" Shye glanced in the direction the golem departed. "Still chasing the bug ... but you saw it, right? I wasn't lying!"

Asriel nodded again, but she was already talking. "I told mom! I told her there were bugs, but she didn't believe me! She thought I was lying cuz Toma tattled on me when I skipped my chores. Like he could talk; he's been feeding the squirrels in the south field. Those little buggers already think they own the place!"

Asriel wasn't sure what to say to that. His chest no longer heaving with the effort needed to get enough breath, he asked, "What was that thing anyway?"

"'unno." She said with a shrug, the word more a grunt than actual language. "But they've been tearing apart the grove piece by piece for about a month. Dad thought it was kids from Glencove. Mom just blamed me."

She crossed her arms, a sulking expression on her face. "She always blames me. It's not even fair; Jaja's the prankster, Melanie's always picking on everyone, and I don't think Toma's done his chores his entire life, but oh no, it's me Mom doesn't trust. It's not fair, y'know?"

Asriel didn't know. He only had one sibling, and while they didn't always get along, Mom treated both him and Chara equally.

"Shye," Asriel asked, "Have you seen somethin' like a shadow sneakin' around? Like a person, but ... well, just black?"

She gave him a curious look. "No ... I've seen some of the boltbears lumbering around in the woods, but nothing like that."

Swing and a miss. Shaking his head, Asriel rose to his feet. Fortunately, Golemite's trail was easy to follow; his feet left massive rectangular imprints deep in the metal ground plating of the Brass Woods. To his shock, however, Asriel realized he could feel the pulse of the Everstar fragment in the same direction.

Shye followed him as he followed his friends footsteps. "Hang on; where you going?"

"I gotta find Golemite." Asriel said.

"But we gotta tell Mom and Dad about the bugs!"

"Golemite could be in trouble!" Asriel said. "If there are more of those things, they could swarm him and ... and he's my friend. I've lost too many friends to just let one go away. If you wanna talk to your parents, fine, but I'm gonna help my friend."

"But they won't believe me, they'll just ..."

Asriel stopped and glared at her. He didn't say anything; just glared.

She backed away slightly, surprise on her face for just a moment before a look of resignation fell over her face.

"Well ... all right. I'll help you find your friend ... but you gotta promise we'll tell Mom and Dad about it on the way back."

"Deal."

Asriel and Shye continued through the Brass Woods, though the Woods themselves were growing much thicker. In a way this helped, as Golemite's path became even easier to follow now that he was smashing through trees and bushes, leaving bent metal and loose valves in his wake. On the other hand, the thickness of the woods made them that much darker; soon, the tops of the trees were a massive complicated clump of valves, keys, and mouthpieces so thick that little light made it through. Asriel pushed onward, Shye following behind as he squeezed through the increasingly crowded forest floor until spotting a distant point of light straight along Golemite's trail.

"We're almost out!" Asriel said, picking up speed. He and Shye raced to the bright point in the distance; it was almost blinding after spending so much time in the dark, making it impossible to make out what lay beyond.

They burst through the edge of the Brass Woods and came to a halt, both overcome with awe at what they saw. There was nothing at the edge of the Brass Woods; remnants of the Skyway still remained, but the ground itself continued for a few feet before dropping off into nothingness. Several hundred feet beyond that, however, lay a sun-swept plain of waving golden grass and tall trees with silver trunks and green gem-like leaves that sparkled in the light. From the edge of the Brass Woods, they could make out a long stream that ran through the beautiful meadow; it coiled around, turning to either side periodically and even rising to form mid-air loops as it flowed as far as Asriel could see.

That was amazing enough to Asriel, who had only seen the true sun once at a time when he couldn't truly enjoy it, but what truly caused Asriel and Shye's stares were the thousands of crab-robots busily scurrying about the edge placing salvaged sheets of metal and bolting them into place. There were several structures along the edge that looked similar to barnacles ... Asriel remembered seeing the little crustacean homes while exploring Waterfall years ago. These, however, were much larger and made from metal instead of mud.

Most, however, slowly piecing particularly battered sheets together stretching out to the meadow. From the ease in which they pieced together, Asriel had the feeling they weren't building as much as rebuilding some kind of bridge.

The crab-bots shuffled away from Asriel and Shye as they approached. They didn't seem threatening; if anything, they seemed frightened. Asriel couldn't help but notice several of the sheets they carried still had small branches with zapples on them.

"They're scavengers." He said as they continued working, a few turning their bulbous eyes on him.

"Wow! So that's what they were doin' with the trees!" Shye said aloud. "They're bridging the gap!"

"I think they already had." Asriel pointed at one of the plates being moved into place; a massive rectangular indention was in the center of it, clearly left by Golemite. It didn't take Asriel long after that to spot more footprints at the edge of the meadow, heading deeper within. Unfortunately, it was clear the bridge that had been there had not survived the golem's passage.

"Great." Shye said, her claws on her the hips of her denim shorts. "How are we supposed to get across?"

Asriel started to say he didn't know when it occurred to him that he actually did.

"I've got this." He said, reaching for the tool hanging from his belt that resembled a spatula.

The first thing Asriel learned while training with the Skyway crew was that technically, the Skyway was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The Skyway was linked to the entire deep, and in theory should have cropped up whenever needed, bridging gaps between places like Nowhere, the Brass Woods, and even the area ahead that would come to be known as the Precious Meadows.

According to Mayor Mayor and his sister, however, the Deep was growing faster than the Skyway itself. As a result, disused paths faded and fell apart. Efforts were being made to feed the Skyway more material, and while they appeared to be working, Mayor Mayor helped alleviate the problem by ceasing the growth of the Skyway.

It was still there, however; the pieces of magic-infused stone were hovering in the air, more floating near in response to Asriel's command. Asriel worked carefully; building a new part of the Skyway was much more difficult than repairing a broken section. He had to be very careful, lest he or someone else attempting to travel the new road only to find it gone from beneath their feet.

Slowly, one after the other, the floating stones merged together to form stepping stones, these small platforms quickly merging together with a gentle nudge of the tool that looked like an egg whisk. The stones connected to the outcropping of the old bridge, all the crab bots watching as the metal plates of the brass woods merged with the stone in a way that was oddly seamless.

Fifteen minutes passed before the far side of the bridge was fully merged with the new Skyway. No sooner than it connected, however, the entire construct vanished.

"Aww!" Shye said, disappointed. "What happened?"

Asriel didn't respond. He simply tucked his tools back into place, approached the edge of the Brass Woods, and kept walking.

Shye lunged forward and grabbed his shoulder to pull him back, but the sheets of the Brass woods were already sliding under his feet, each individual sheeet moving fluidly to combine with the others. The crab-bots all started clicking their pincers, several leaping into the air in what could only be called jubilation at the repair of their bridge.

"Whoa." Shye said, staring wide-eyed at the Skyway. "How did you do that?"

"Building the Skyway is like connecting two points in a web." Asriel said as he continued walking, the metal plates shifting to stone. "Instead of making a set path, it creates a bridge that can appear anywhere its needed, multiple times if necessary."

"Meaning ...?"

Sighing, Asriel said, "Meaning now anywhere between the Brass Woods and the land ahead, people can now use the skyway to cross. It'll appear when needed, and merge back with the natural land once its purpose is done."

Shye looked impressed. "You really are a Skyway Repair worker. I thought you were just a kid."

Asriel chuckled softly. "Nuthin' says I can't be both. C'mon; Golemite's probably miles ahead of us now. Besides, I wanna see the meadow up close!"

A mischevious look fell over Shye's face. "Race you."

"You're on!"

With that, Asriel and Shye ran across the Skyway, the stone gradually changing into golden grass that tickled their feet as they ran.


	33. Chapter 32 - ImpartiSans

**Chapter 32**

 **ImpartiSans**

NegaSans stood up, cheekbones flushed from exertion. "There, Doc; he ain't goin' nowhere."

Sans was forced to agree. In addition to arm, leg, and three spine restraints, a shimmering forcefield hummed mere millimeters from his bones. It wouldn't hurt him, but if he even tried to move he'd get a nasty shock.

If that wasn't bad enough, they'd taken his clothes as well. He wasn't particularly modest, but being pinned to a metal slab bare-boned left him little in the way of dignity.

Alphys's spectacled face moved into his line of view, the eyes behind her swirled glasses cold and analytical. "Interesting. His resemblance to you is quite uncanny."

"I dunno about that." NegaSans said, tossing Sans's coat onto the pile of the rest of Sans's clothes. "Way too small for me."

"Fooled your brother well enough, didn't it?"

"Don't remind me." NegaSans said with a scowl.

"What did he say?"

NegaSans paused for a moment before saying, "I didn't tell him."

Sans gave NegaSans a strange look. Alphys, however, adjusted her spectacles and gave him a mirthless smile. "You just told him you found the human, didn't you?"

NegaSans scowled, but didn't say anything. Alphys laughed and shook her head. "Relax; I won't tell him your double bested you multiple times."

"Thanks." NegaSans mumbled, turning to leave.

"If."

NegaSans froze for a moment before slowly turning back to the doctor. "If what?"

"If you bring the human child to me first."

"And let you hog the glory?"

"Come now, Sans; you more than anyone should know I've no interest in currying favor with our brooding dictator. He will get the child and its soul in due time ... after I've finished with them. Bring the human to me, and rest assured, your dear brother need not know of your continued blundering."

"You're a real piece of work, doc." NegaSans said, a glimmer of light in his red eye.

"No flattery, please." Alphys said. "I get enough of that from that Undyne."

"Her affections seem a bit fishy to you?" Sans said.

NegaSans and Alphys glared at him, both looking annoyed at the interruption.

Shaking her head, Alphys said, "Bring the kid to the lower lab when you catch her ... and use a shortcut so you aren't seen. Less fuss that way."

"What about him?" NegaSans asked, jerking a thumb-bone at Sans.

Alphys barely spared Sans a glance. "All in good time; I'll need to prepare my examination room before I get started on our friend here."

"Take your time, Doc." Sans said, "I ain't goin' anywhere. You could say you've got a captive audience."

Alphys glared at Sans, only to turn and glare at NegaSans as he let out a snicker.

Her beady eyes rolling behind the glasses, Alphys said, "I suggest you get moving Sans. And as for you, my humerous friend-"

NegaSans and Sans both laughed at that one, much to Alphys's obvious annoyance. "That's not what I ... ugh. Sans, get out of here. Our guest might as well laugh while he can; he certainly won't be laughing once I get started on him."

""Why doc," Sans said, "I do believe you're flirtin' with me."

Alphys turned away with a disgusted snort and slunk towards the depths of her lab.

NegaSans shook his head and said, "You're funny, I'll give you that. Kinda a shame your about to get dissected by our resident mad scientist."

"No reason to get torn to pieces over it." Sans said.

NegaSans chuckled again. "Not yet anyway."

He took a few steps away before stopping and turning to face Sans again. "What's it like? Your dimension?"

"Empty." Sans said, smile fading. "The human we got wasn't as merciful as yours."

NegaSans nodded Before he turned away again, however, Sans added, "But Glen ... the lady I was travelling with before I ended up here, she came from a world where we lived on the surface with the humans in peace."

"With the humans? They're the ones who cursed us to this underground hell!"

"The humans who put up the barrier are long dead, dude. The ones left on the surface? They think we're just a story, something their grandparents told them to scare 'em into behaving."

NegaSans shook his head and turned away.

"If you don't believe me, try talkin' to Frisk."

"Frisk?"

"The human kid. Just give her a chance; she's no threat."

NegaSans glared at Sans for a long moment. "How do I know you aren't lyin' to me?"

"Cross my heart ... well, you know what I mean."

NegaSans let out a snort, but Sans thought he saw some contemplation on his other self's skull before he turned away once more.

"So long, me." NegaSans said. "Hang in there."

"Ha! Good one." Sans said, watching NegaSans depart. In truth, he was worried; NegaAlphys was every bit as clever as her counterpart in his dimension. He could detach his arms and legs, even his head for a time, but even a skeleton needed a spine. She'd even dredged up several null generators to cancel out his magic. It wasn't enough to stop his abilities altogether, but it certainly weakened them to the point of uselessness. Concentrating with all his might it was all he could do to make a scalpel on the nearby table rattle in its tray.

Alphys approached, watching the tray with an air of amusement. Mettaton stood behind her, his face impassive. Sans was flattered; clearly, Alphys still viewed him as a threat despite everything else she'd done to restrain him.

"Impressive." Alphys said, adjusting her glasses. "Normally that much nullification would render Sans powerless ... the Sans who's supposed to be here anyway."

She pointed a small remote at Sans. The upright slab slowly moved forward, heading toward the lift.

"Well," Alphys said, walking casually alongside the moving slab. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about your universe on the way? I'm dying of curiosity ... well, technically, you'll be dying for my curiosity, but I'm sure you know what I mean."

"My universe?" Sans said, "Ain't nuthin' special. Mettaton's king of the Underground. Me and Pap are his lackeys, and he has you hosting a late-night television show."

"Very amusing. And Asgore?"

"He's a busboy at Grillbys." Sans said, figuring he might as well have what fun he could get. "I always tell him I'm ordering to goat. Gets him every time."

"I see. What of the barrier?"

"Oh, that? We put up a bunch of wallpaper and forgot about it. Nuthin' up there we really needed anyway."

"Yes, that sounds sensible."

Sans's slab rolled into the lift and slowly spun about in time to see Mettaton and Alphys enter as well. Once the lift was moving, Alphys asked, "So why did you come here?"

"Accident." Sans said. "I was tryin' to go back to Snowdin and got ambushed in mid-shortcut."

She frowned at him. "Something attacked you in the middle of a short range teleportation stream? Highly unlikely."

"Hey, do you think I want to be here?" Sans asked. "Pap's a jerk, you're a certified mad scientist, and the king's a genocidal madman. If I knew a way back, I'd leave in a second."

"And Sans? The Sans of this dimension?"

"Seems all right. Lousy taste in condiments, though."

The lift doors opened to the lower lab. At a button press from Alphys, Sans's slab continued moving again.

"How are the amalgates?" Sans asked.

Alphys stopped immediately and glared at Sans.

"Amalgates?" Mettaton said, speaking for the first time. "What is he talking about Alphys?"

"Nothing." Alphys said, still glaring at Sans. "Nothing at all. Just the nonsensical ramblings of a skeleton who is, as I'm sure he'd put it, seriously boned."

"Ha! Good one, Doc!" Sans said. He almost had the restraints around his hands and free; his power was a little stronger now. Perhaps one of the nullifiers was malfunctioning. Whatever the reason, Sans started focusing his telekinesis on the spine restraints.

"So, Doc." Sans said as they entered a large surgical room. "What exactly are you planning to do to me?"

"Well, for starters, I'd like to get a good look at that eye of yours." Alphys said. "I could make use of that kind of power."

"Nuthin' hidin' in my baby blue, Doc."

"We'll see." Alphys pointed the remote at Sans again. The slab reclined until it was horizontal.

He heard the sound of metal tools rattling together, followed by a satisfied, "Ah, here we go."

Alphys appeared in Sans's field of vision, now bearing a slightly rusted surgical saw.

"Now then," She said as she started up the saw. "Hold him down, Mettaton. We wouldn't want him to accidentally damage the eye while thrasing about in agonizing pain now, would we?"

"Heaven forbid." Sans said. Only his feet were restrained now; he tensed in preparation for the fight ahead, only for the entire room to go black. Emergency lighting kicked in a moment later, filling the room with a dull ambient blue glow.

Alphys let out a frustrated sigh as the surgical saw's motor died. "Can't I have a single moment to myself in this dratted place?"

A jaunty anime jingle filled the air. Sans almost couldn't believe it; despite the differences, both his Alphys and this Alphys had the theme to Mew Mew Kissy Cutie set as their ringtone.

"What?" Alphys snapped into the cell phone's receiver. Sans strained to make out the rest of the conversation, but it was too faint to make out.

"Uh huh." Alphys said, pinching the bridge of her snout. "I'm sure its fine; they're probably just realigning the transfer circuits. Just leave them alone, Undyne, that's why I built the damn things. No, I can't go over there, I'm busy! I need to ... fine. Yes. Ugh ... fine. Right. I'll be over there in a few minutes."

Alphys looked at Sans for a moment before turning away and saying in a hushed whisper, "Love you too, Al."'

"Aww!" Mettaton and Sans said in unison.

"Shut up." Alphys said, the yellow scales of her cheeks growing dark. "I'll be back ... eventually. Mettaton, you stay here and keep an eye on him."

"But darling, I have a show in half an hour! I need to-"

"Stay here. If he gets away, I swear I'll take you apart and put you back together as a washing machine!"

Alphys stormed off, still looking embarrassed as the door slid shut behind her. One down, Sans thought to himself.

Sans and Mettaton exchanged glances before Sans said, "Wow. Touchy, isn't she?"

"You have no idea." Mettaton said dryly. "Great. Now I'm going to forget my lines ... again."

"Then go rehearse, buddy." Sans said, waving his restrained hand as much as he could without giving away the strap wasn't secure. "I ain't goin' anywhere like this."

"Well ... I don't know." Mettaton said, twisting both sets of fingers nervously. "She's not kidding when she says she'll tear me apart. If I'd known she was going to use me as her little servant ..."

"... you'd still have had her make you that body." Sans finished. "Just for a chance to dazzle an audience."

"Oh!" Mettaton said, metal cheeks blushing. "Have ... have you seen my show?"

"Not in this universe, but you were a big hit back in mine." Sans said, realizing with a small amount of amusement that it was the truth. "The last performance I saw was definitely a show-stopper."

"Really?" Mettaton said, eyes wide. "I've worked so hard to get an audience here. I must've tried a hundred different programs, but the ratings never budge an inch. What did your Mettaton do?"

"Hey, what didn't he do? Cooking shows, news reports, opera, gladiator battles ... incredible stuff. I mean, hey; I don't have to tell you. You do the same stuff probably."

"Well ... no." Mettaton said, rubbing his arms and looking surprisingly sheepish. "But I've got some good ideas. I thought a documentary show-"

"Oh, wow. Uh, Mettaton, you mind if I give ya a little advice? If you wanna please the crowds, you gotta know your audience. These people, their pent up, they're angry, they need an outlet. As a prospective entertainer, you need to give them that outlet."

"My word." Mettaton said, looking strangely taken aback. "You don't mean ... racy programs?"

Sans sighed. The idea of a timid Mettaton was just almost too much, even when it was working in his favor.

"Tell you what; why don't you try this. Pap's got a bunch of puzzles set between the Ruins and Snowdin, yeah? You get a bunch of monsters, put them at one end, then tell them the first one to the Ruins wins a big prize!"

"What prize?" Mettaton asked, staring as though transfixed.

"Something good. Something everyone will want. The bigger the better, Mettaton; you gotta make them want it and want it bad. What's something everyone in the Underground wants? What's something everyone would find valuable? Dangle that carrot in front of them and record the footage on all of Alphys's spy cameras, and simply provide commentary ... perhaps along with someone else, just for flavor, and I guarantee your ratings are gonna take off like a bottle rocket! Your viewers will love you!"

The look in Mettaton's eyes made it clear Sans had hit just the right button. "Yes ... yes! Yes, you're right! That's brilliant, Sans!"

Without another word, Mettaton headed out of the room. As the door slid shut, Sans felt the final restraint give way.

"Whew." He said, "Just in time."

As though hearing Sans's relief and moving to spite him, the lights of the came back on moments later, the force field surrounding him activating with a loud hum.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Sans said, once again stuck. He looked around for something that he could use to bash the underside of the slab; with any luck, he'd break the field emitter or one of the nullifiers.

He was still looking when the slab suddenly shook. The sound of metal and plastic being mangled was audible beneath him, followed by a massive jolt as the slab fell on its side, spilling Sans to the floor.

He sat there for a few moments, stunned at this turn of events until a small yellow face peeked over the side of the slab.

"Hey! Smiley trashbag!" Flowey said, "We gotta get moving!"

"Flowey?" Sans said, scarcely believing his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm a hero, I know. C'mon; we gotta get moving before Docter Frankenlizard and Metalhead get back."

"But how ..."

"That's the good thing about being a flower." Flowey said with a nervous laugh. "You can squeeze through all kinds of cracks. Now come on!"

Sans climbed over the slab, taking a moment to look at the thick vines pulling away from the remains of the equipment on the underside of the slab. Flowey slid up and around his arm like a snake. He wasted no time retracing their path to the lift. Once back in the main lab, he grabbed his clothing.

"Put it on while you walk!" Flowey said. "We've gotta hurry up and help Frisk before they catch her!"

"All right, all right!" Sans said, slipping on his pants. Flowey grumbled as Sans approached the lab entrance, pulling the sleeve over the recumbent flower. He reached for the button to open the door, only for it to slide open before he even touched it to reveal a wisp of blue flame in a somewhat tattered school uniform.

Sans stared for a moment before finally managing to utter the name, "Fuku?"

"Well, yeah." Flowey said, shrugging his pedals. "You didn't think I made it all the way here by myself did you?"

Sans tried to imagine Fuku carrying Flowey and failed. Shaking his head, he smiled at the young flame woman and said, "Well, I'm glad to see a friendly face."

"Well, you did save me." She sounded non-chalante about it, but Sans thought he detected a hint of pink in the flames where her cheeks would be.

"Hey, couldn't let Grillby's girl go out in a blaze, right?"

She giggled but quickly caught herself. "Flowey told me ... y'know, about you being from another dimension. I should've known, of course; Sans ... our Sans would never have risked himself for us like you did."

"Well, believe it or not, where I'm from, me and Grillby go way back. We're such good friends that every now and then, I actually think about paying my tab."

He winked at her. "I never do, but you know what they say; it's the thought that counts."

She giggled, one hand covering her mouth. Sans found himself thinking how pretty she looked, but quickly forced that thought away. This was definitely not the time for that.

"I told her you were trying to find a way back." Flowey said, coiling around Sans's neck as though trying to get comfortable.

"Not necessarily back." Sans said, "But definitely away. No offense, but I'm not a fan of this reality."

"Neither am I." Fuku stared down into his eyes. "Please ... can I go with you too?"

Sans was momentarily struck by the way the flames of her 'hair' flickered, just a shade lighter than the rest of her.

"Rrgh ... focus, Sans." Shaking his head, Sans said, "Well, assumin' I can get myself out." He said, "But it's probably gonna be a one-way trip."

"I don't care." She said, holding her head up defiantly. "I ... I hate this place. Anything would be better than this."

Sans considered his own reality, with all the other monsters gone. "Yeah, I'm gonna agree with you there."

"It's not just me either." She said. "After what you did in Snowdin, after what your brother-"

"That Papyrus is not my brother." Sans said sharply. "My brother loves spaghetti and puzzles, and runs around in paper mache armor annoying Undyne and getting on my case about taking naps while I'm on duty."

Fuku's flames died a little as she shrank back from him. Sans realized then that his eye was flaring.

"Sorry." He said, backing away and putting a hand over the blue orb. "Sorry, Fuku. Yeah, I'll take anyone outta here who wants to go, but we can't do that without the crystal."

"Not a problem." Fuku said, pulling the chunk out of her skirt pocket.

"You took it?" Sans asked, looking at Flowey and trying to get the mental image of him dragging the crystal behind him down the Core corridors.

"I tried to wake you up. We both did." Flowey said, glowering at the skeleton, "But you were out like a light."

"Yeah. The thing in the core took a lot outta me." Shaking his head, Sans said, "Okay, I have an idea about what we can use for power, but it's gonna take a pretty good plan."

Fuku nodded. "Yes ... Flowey told us. A human soul. The rest of Snowdin is out looking for Frisk right now."

"What? No, not the kid's soul!"

"But Sans, we need to get out ot here!" Fuku said, desperation in her voice.

"Frisk ain't done nuthin'." Sans said stubbornly. "I ain't sacrificing her to get outta here, not when our dear king Asgore's just sitting on six souls ready for the taking. If it comes to staying here or killing Frisk, I'll take my chances here."

Fuku wrung her hands, a thoroughly unhappy look on her face. "Sans ... I don't want to kill anyone, but ... but everyone knows the human's down here now. They're going to be looking for her."

"All the more reason for us to find her first." Sans said. "Fortunately, Alphys has cameras all over the Underground. Sooner or later, we'll catch sight of her."

"Are you crazy?" Flowey said, "We can't just stay here! Alphys is gonna come back, and you wouldn't believe the stuff she could throw at us."

"Oh yes I could." Sans said, thinking of the hulking amalgates. Shaking his head, he said, "But don't worry about it; I've got a computer linked into her camera system back in Snowdin. We better get movin' though. Like you said, Flowey; who knows what she's gonna throw at us when she realizes we're gone?"


	34. Chapter 33 - Burning Bones

**Chapter 33**

 **Burning Bones**

Sans, Flowey and Fuku reached the edge of Snowdin far later than Sans would've liked. Still, he couldn't be mad at Fuku; of course she was going to have issues with Waterfall. Still, they finally exited the water-filled caverns. The sight of snow would have been calming to Sans; as it was, his tension remained right up to the moment they were in his secret lab and the door was both locked and blocked with several metal crates.

"Is that really necessary?" Flowey asked as Fuku and Sans sank to the ground with their backs against the cool metal of the storage crates.

"You do realize that your Sans probably knows about this room too, right?" Sans said, sternum and ribs heaving. "He's the one who built it here, after all."

"But if he knows you know ..."

"He doesn't know about the crystal shard." Sans said. "Mind you, if he finds out we're missing, he'll probably look here first. I would if I was looking for me."

"You look for yourself often?" Fuku asked, a playful grin on her flickering face.

"Yeah, but I never really find myself. I'm a good hider, psychologically speaking."

"Ugh." Flowey shook his head and said, "I'm gonna keep watch outside. Let me know when you've found the kid, okay?"

Flowey dove into a crack in the tiles and somehow managed to squeeze his way through.

"Well," Sans said as he rose to his feet and helped Fuku to hers. "Welcome to my secret lab. Give me a sec, and I'll get the camera feeds up."

He walked to the counter and moved aside a dusty blueprint to reveal a blue square button. Moments after he pushed it down, a blue glowing screen with a question and a prompt.

Chuckling, he said, "Hey, Fuku, why did the skeleton not go to the dance?"

"Um, I dunno." She said, approaching to no doubt get a look at the screen that currently displayed Sans's inquiry.

Already typing, Sans said, "Because he had no BODY to go with."

Fuku giggled but quickly stopped after Sans finished entering the password. Panels slid open on every wall of the room, each revealing a salvaged television or computer monitor.

"Oh, wow!" Fuku said, her eyes wide. "Sans? When did you put all this here?"

"Eh, a monitor here and television there." Sans said, "I've got a few friends among the Junkyard scavvers. Looks like your Sans does too. It's not quite the same as it is back home, but I think I know enough to get this online."

Fuku was silent as Sans brought up camera feeds on the monitors, displaying locations across the Underground including just outside the ruins, deep within Castle Dreemurr, and even one inside Grillby's.

"He's watching dad?" Fuku asked.

"Alphys is watching your father." Sans corrected. "I'm guessing your Sans didn't tell Alphys he hacked into her surveillance systems. I certainly didn't."

The feeds shifted across the screens. Sans and Fuku kept an eye on as many as they could, looking for some sign of Frisk. They did see other people though, including several migosps attacking a whimsum with a bent wing.

"Just when I thought this place couldn't seem worse." Sans muttered. "Who attacks a whimsum, honestly?"

Fuku rubbed her arm. "It ... it wasn't always like this, you know. I mean things weren't always great, but things used to be decent. King Asgore was fair ... strict, but fair, Undyne kept us safe, and our Sans and Papyrus were almost like local celebrities. We were surviving, even happy at times."

"So what happened?" Sans asked, turning away from the console to look her in the eyes. "What changed that made this place such a living hell?"

"The King lost his children." She said, a sad look on her face. "I was just a little flame when it happened."

"It's okay." Sans said. "Just tell me what you know."

"Dad knows more than I do, but he's probably busy with-" Fuku blushed and put a hand to her mouth.

Sans raised an eyeridge at her. "Busy with ...?"

"I shouldn't say." Fuku said. "I'm sorry; I trust you, but if Dad finds out I told you, he'll get mad."

"At you?" Sans blew a raspberry, an amazing feat seeing as he didn't have a tongue ... at least not a physical one anyway. "Grillby adores ..."

He stopped, seeing the look on her face. Sighing, he said, "I'm sorry. Everyone here's so different but you're almost a perfect match for my Fuku."

"Oh!" She said, blushing even brighter.

Sans realized the implication a moment later and quickly said, "Er, not like that."

"Oh ... I understand."

She moved to turn away, her head bowed. Sans's hand and arm moved of their own accord, touching her cheek; as a skeleton, he wasn't bothered by the heat.

"Hey, now." He said, gently making her look at him. "I ain't meanin' to sound cold. It just never came up. Besides, Grillby'd roast me if I even looked at you funny."

"Dad doesn't care much what I do." She said.

"Phhb. Grillby adores you, Fuku. Things may be different here, but I was there when he tried to save you and nearly caught it from Papyrus."

A slow smile spread across his face. "I-I guess you're right. I just wish we could talk like we did when Mom was still around."

"Missus Grillby?" Sans said, intruiged. "I never got to meet her in my world. What was she like?"

Fuku's smile spread across her face. "She was wonderful. She'd sing and dance at the bar every night. Even Dad would just stand and stare; she was so beautiful. She used these metals in her dance that let her change into all sorts of colors. People would throw more money at her than they'd spend with my father." She laughed and added, "She used to tease him about it sometimes."

Her smile faded. "She was killed by Papyrus. Suspicion of conspiracy; everyone knew it wasn't true, but Papyrus is so strong."

"Didn't anyone stop her? Didn't Grillby?" Sans asked, horrified.

Fuku shook her head. "There wasn't time. He grabbed her and threw her into the water before anyone could react. She was the first to die; at first, we thought it was just a horrible mistake, but the next day someone else was killed ... then another the next day." She closed her eyes and shook her head.

Feeling the need to lighten the mood, Sans said, "Papyrus ... my Papyrus would never hurt a fly, except maybe by accident. He spends most of his days making up puzzles."

"Puzzles?" Fuku asked, the hints of a smile on her face. "You mean traps?"

"No, I mean puzzles. Guy's nuts over them. About the only thing he likes more than puzzles is making spaghetti." Sans winked at her. "Sometimes it was even edible."

Fuku giggled. Sans laughed too; after all the darkness of that universe and the death of his own, thinking back to happier times was a welcome respite.

"Your world must be nice." She said, rubbing her neck. "I can't wait to see it."

Sans felt the balloon of happiness in his chest deflate. It must've shown on his skull, for Fuku's smile faded as well.

"My world ... is pretty much gone." Sans said. "Everyone was killed. I was nearly killed."

"What happened?"

He shook his head. "Let's just say the human child who came to my world was ... well, not like yours. She cut a path from Snowdin to New Home and left nothing but ash."

"And Papyrus?"

Sans was silent for a moment. Slowly, he reached into his coat and pulled out Papyrus's scarf.

Fuku held the tips of her hands to her mouth. "You ... you had to watch your brother die?"

Sans shook his head. "No ... but I saw the dust. That's what it took to finally take things seriously; most of Snowdin and Waterfall was already gone, but I got word to Hotland and New Home in time for some people to go into hiding. It ... didn't work out."

Shaking his head, Sans said, "Fortunately, we're not going there. There are plenty of other realities out there, and I'm sure we can find-"

He stopped as Fuku put her arms around him. He was struck speechless for a few moments before he finally letting out a sigh and put his arms around her. "Thanks, Fuku."

Sans was still struggling between thinking up an excuse to break away and simply enjoying Fuku's comforting warmth when he spotted Frisk.

"There!" He said, pointing at the monitor behind Fuku. "There she is!"

Fuku turned in time to get a good look at Frisk running through an alley in New Home. She hid behind a large trashcan, and not a moment too soon; the tall figure of Papyrus soon appeared at the far end of the alley, his eyes scanning every nook and cranny.

By some miracle, he didn't spot her. Letting out a snort loud enough for the security camera to catch, he stalked away from the alley leaving the now-trembling Frisk alone.

"Oh, the poor thing!" Fuku said, her eyes on the terrified child. "Can we talk to her?"

"Nah, the cameras don't have audio output." Sans checked the glowing console for the location and nodded. "But I think I know where she is."

"But we'll never get there in time1" Fuku said.

Sans took her hand and smiled at her. "Trust me?"

She nodded, though there was definite uncertainty in her eyes.

"Good enough." Sans said, pulling them both into the shortcut.

He heard Fuku gasp as they slipped through the shortcut like drops of rain flying through a monsoon. Sans watched again for signs of his mysterious attacker, but they passed through the shortcut without incident.

Fuku staggered forward a few steps as they hit the cobbles, Sans's grip helping her stay on her feet.

"Oh, wow." She said. "What was that?"

"That was a shortcut." He told her, looking around in an attempt to match his location to a camera feed. Quickly getting his bearings, he pointed to a nearby street and said, "That way."

"Wait!" Fuku said, catching his hand. "Flowey! We left him in Snowdin!"

"Damn." Sans said. While he had doubts about the talking flower's trustworthiness, he hadn't intended to leave him behind.

"All right." Sans said, "I'll shortcut back and-"

Strong furry arms caught his and forced them behind his back while also shoving him against the nearest stone wall. Sans winced at the impact and glanced back to see a massive wolf-person in denim pants behind him.

"Hey!" He said, "What's the big idea!"

A burst of flame flared in a dark corner of the alley as Grillby stood and approached. He still wore his bar clothes, but his expression was even more stolid than usual.

"Hey, Grillby!" Sans said. "Glad you stopped by. You didn't bring any ketchup, did you?"

Grillby stared at him for a long moment, his gaze inscrutable ... and yet Sans got the distinct impression that he was searching Sans's skull for something. If they'd wanted him dead, one good hit would've sufficed; this was clearly something else, and given the state of the Underground in that universe, that perked Sans's curiosity.

"Bring him." Grillby said, speaking at last.

"Hey, guys." Sans said, "Take it easy. I ain't lookin' for a fight."

"Glad to hear it." The wolf-man rumbled. "Cuz if I see one bone, I might accidentally snap something. Now are you gonna walk, or do I hafta carry you?"

"As tempting as it is to take a nap, I think I'll walk it." Sans said. "I gotta work off that mustard anyway."

The denim-loving wolf-man cautiously set Sans on the ground.

"Dad, stop!" Fuku said, grabbing her father's arm.

"Go home, Fuku!" Grillby said, his tone more stern that Sans had ever heard it.

"He's not the same Sans!"

"I said go home!"

The two flame people stared each other down, their flames growing in response to their anger. For a moment, Sans was afraid there might be a fight; it would be unthinkable in his universe, but given the friction between Fuku and Grillby already in that universe, Sans wasn't going to discount anything.

"All right!" Sans said, "Take it easy, both of you; I'll come peacefully."

"Then I'm coming too." Fuku said, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"No." Grillby said. "I don't want you involved in this."

'But Dad-"

"He's right, Fuku." Sans said, drawing a surprised look from the young flame woman. "I'm sure if you look around here you can find another friend."

Her eyes widened. He gave her the barest of nods to let her know she caught his meaning correctly.

"I don't want you wandering around here, Fuku. Fuku!" Grillby said as his daughter turned away and stomped down the street. Sighing, he shook his head and said, "All right, Sans; start walking."

The wolf man shoved Sans toward a different street. Sans glared at him. "Hey now, no need to push. I get the pace of it."


	35. Chapter 34 - Red Eyes

**Chapter 34**

 **Red Eyes**

Glen slammed the door of Sans and Papyrus's house open and rushed inside shouting, "Sans! Pap! Are you here?"

They were indeed, as was Rahnna. Pap and Rahnna were lounging together on the couch while the Magnificent Sans sat at the table in front of a rock, a bottle of candy sprinkles in his hand. Whatever they were doing before, they were all staring at the sweating Glen now.

"Oh, right." Papyrus said after a few moments. "I completely forgot about you. Everything all right in Waterfall?"

Rahnna looked at him with an expression of shock. "You just left her in Waterfall? Alone?"

"Eh, she's a tough gal. I knew she could take care of herself."

Frowning, Rahnna clenched a fist and bonked Papyrus in the head.

"Ow." He said reflexively.

Glen breathed a sigh of relief and leaned on her knees to catch her breath. "Whew ... you're okay ... you're all okay."

"Of course." Papyrus said. "You look a bit rough though."

Small blue-gloved hands caught Glen with surprising strength.

"The Magnificent Sans is always considerate of others! Here, take my chair!"

Glen didn't resist as Magnificent helped her to the chair. She stared briefly at the rock on the table, wondering briefly as to why Magnificent covered it with sprinkles before chalking it up the the skeleton's eccentricity.

"The human." Glen said, "Has anyone found her yet?"

Sans and Rahnna stared at her for a moment before looking at Papyrus.

"I suppose the answer to that question is yes." He said, sneaking Rahnna's cigarette.

"Is ... is she ..."

"No one is dead." Papyrus said, giving Glen a wink. "Sorry if I worried you, running off like that. Did Alphys give you any trouble?"

"Nah, she bought the erm ... " Glen looked at Sans, who was staring back in wide-eyed interest. "She didn't interfere with my research."

"Glad to hear it." Papyrus said. "She can be so intense sometimes."

"Tell me about it." Glen said under breath. Shaking her head, she asked, "So where is the human? Did they leave Snowdin already?"

"Not quite." Papyrus said. As he paused to take another puff from his cigarette, the door slammed open again.

"The human!" Alphys demanded. "Where is it?"

Papyrus sighed as he handed Rhanna back her cigarette. "Hi Captain Alphys. Come on in."

Alphys glared around the room, her gaze eventually centering on Glen.

"I know you." She said, eyes narrowing.

"The Monstropologist." Glen said, secretly wishing she'd touched up her disguise after arriving.

Alphys continued to glare at her. Shifting uncomfortably, Glen said, "Um, so you're looking for a human? My word. It's been what five ... four ..."

"Six." Papyrus said helpfully.

"Six years since we've seen one of those, eh?" Glen gave Alphys what she hoped was a disarming smile.

Alphys stared for a few more moments before letting out a snort. "Undyne claimed she caught footage of the child in Snowdin. I will be searching every house, every building, every tiny gap where the creature could possibly hide.

"Go ahead and search the house." Papyrus said. "But your wasting your time. We've been here for hours ... unless you're suggesting that a human just waltzed past all of us."

"Getting past you is hardly a challenge." Alphys said with a snort."

"Oh!" Magnificent said, waving his hand in the air. "I've been here too! Nothing to report, Captain, no humans or anything else strange!"

"Maybe somethin' could get past me." Pap admitted, "But do you really think your protoge over there wouldn't notice?"

Alphys snorted and stomped into the kitchen. The clatter of pots and pans soon followed as the lizard warrior proceeded to trash the skeleton brothers' kitchen.

"Now really!" Rahnna said, frowning in the direction of the kitchen. "Does she really have to make such a mess!"

"Oh no!" Magnificent said, hands on his head. "My souffle pot! "

Papyrus sighed and turned his gaze to Glen. "We might as well help so she doesn't have to tear apart the whole house. That okay with you, Al?"

"Fine, whatever!" Alphys grunted, still digging through one of the kitchen cabinets.

Shaking his head, Papyrus said; "All right; I'll check Sans's room. Rahnna, you go ahead and take a look around in mine. Glen, why don't you check out the shed outside."

Papyrus threw something at Glen. She caught it and found it was a silver key.

"Oh, and if I left that thing in the shed, do me a favor and put it behind the house, would ya?" Papyrus said. "I've been meaning to take it outta there for ages."

"Right." Glen said, fairly certain she caught his meaning. "Be back in a sec."

She moved toward the door, only for it to slam open again, this time revealing the blue-scaled face of Undyne. It was a sign that Glen was getting used to her current universe when the sight of Undyne in a lab coat didn't surprise her.

"Alphys!" She said, straightening her thick glasses. "Alphys, are you here?"

Rubbing his forehead, Papyrus said, "Does anyone just knock anymore?"

"Oh ... Papyrus ... I'm sorry, but I've been reviewing footage from my security cameras, and have made an important discovery!"

She winced as a heavy saucepan banged against the wall beside the door.

"She's remodeling the kitchen." Papyrus said, his tone dry.

"I've found another human in the Underground!" Alphys said.

Realizing her cover was likely blown, Glen took the opportunity to slip out of the house. The shed in question was just a few feet away. To her surprise, however, there was no lock on the door. Puzzled as to why Papyrus gave her the key, Glen pushed open the door and walked inside.

The room was divided by a set of thick bars whose purpose Glen could only guess at as they were too far apart to contain anything small enough to get through the door. A small figure huddled in the corner, partially covered by straw.

"Hey there." Glen said, slipping between the bars. "Don't worry; I'm human too."

She caught the barest glimmer of an eye peering out between the little girl's folded arms .

Smiling, Glen knelt down in front of the girl. "I'm from a little town called Bridges in Texas. Where are you from?"

After a few moments of silence, the little girl said, "E-ebott."

"Ebott." Glen repeated nodding. "I've spent some time there myself. I used to live in a place called the Cherry House."

The gap widened a little more. "Y-you lived in the Cherry house?"

"That's right." Glen said, a little surprised that it even existed in that universe. "Had my own share of adventures ... but that was a long time ago. My name's Glen, by the way. Well, Glenda, but don't call me that; Glen's just fine."

Glen held out her hand. "And you are?"

The little girl hesitated for a few moments before sitting up straight and meeting Glen's gaze with two ruby red eyes. "C-chara. My name is Chara."

Glen sucked in her breath, yanking her hand back. "You!"

Fear crept into Chara's face as Glen said, "You're the one who tried to kill Sans!"

"W-what?" Chara said, "I-I never ..."

"Who are you?" Glen demanded. "What is it that you want?"

There was definite fear in Chara's eyes now as Glen bore down on her. "I-I ... I ..."

Glen grabbed her and held her tightly in her grasp, wincing in anticipation of the burning sensation of ichor against her flesh ... which never came. The little girl was petrified with fear, but there was no ichor ... not even a trace of it.

"P-please ..." Chara begged. "Please don't hurt m-me."

Chara was not infested with the ichor. What's more, the fear and confusion in her eyes made it clear she had no idea what Glen was even talking about. She was just a scared little girl lost in the Underground ... and Glen had just scared her even more.

Shame filling her chest, Glen blushed and set the girl down before kneeling once again, her hands on Chara's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Chara. I ... mistook you for someone else. Forgive me."

Chara took a trembling breath before slowly nodding. "I-It's okay. I-I'm used to people yelling at me."

Glen stared at her a long moment, feeling even worse. Glen knew of the stigma; she'd been responsible for bringing it to an end.

"Because of your eyes." Glen said softly, gently pushing a wisp of hair out of the little girl's face. "They thought it was a sign of a demon; that you were possessed or just flat out evil."

Chara nodded, sniffling a little. Glen could see the entire story in that sad little face. The adults would ignore her, treat her as she wasn't there. That was nothing, however, to the treatment she got from other children. 'Demon-girl', 'witch' ... 'monster'. In comparison, most of the people of the Underground must've seemed like paradise ... until a certain Dreamer lost her cool. Glen knew the story only too well; after all, she'd heard it once before.

"They called me monster too, you know." She showed Chara the rune on her right hand, channeling a little power through it so that it glowed. "At least, until I convinced them to stop."

"You made them stop?" Chara asked, hope in her eyes. "How?"

Glen grinned and clenched her fists meaningfully, "I knocked them on their asses."

Chara giggled.

"Might not be the way for you." Glen said, "I'm betting the monsters have been nicer to you, though."

Chara nodded. "After I fell, a big goat man helped me."

"Goat man?" Glen said before realizing who she was talking about. "Asgore?"

"I-I should've listened to him ... stayed with him in the Ruins. He told me it was dangerous out here." Blushing, she said, "He said I could be his daughter. It made him seem so happy."

"And why didn't you?" Glen asked. She wasn't accusing or judging; just curious.

Chara rubbed her shoulder, bowing her head. "I never knew my real mom. She died just after I was born. I ... I hurt her inside, and she died, and its my fault, and I don't wanna hurt Mister Asgore."

"What?" Glen said, wiping away the tears that were forming. "Of course it's not your fault! Who told you that?"

"I heard the people at the orphanage-"

"Oh did you?" Glen said, making a mental note to pay said orphanage a visit at some point. "Well they're wrong. You aren't gonna hurt people just because you have red eyes. The only person who decides if you help or hurt people is you ..." Ruffling her hair, Glen said, "And I'm thinkin' you wanna help."

"But what if you're wrong?" Chara asked, a little hope in her eyes.

"You left Asgore because you were afraid you'd hurt him." Glen said gently. "You made a decision that hurt you because you thought it would help him. That's called selflessness, Chara, and it's a good thing. In moderation, of course."

"Then ... then I can stay?"

"Of course!" Glen said, "I'm sure there's a way to get back into the ruins. Until then, I'm sure Pap and Magnificent will be happy to let you live with them."

"You really think so?" There was definite hope in Chara's eyes now.

"Indeed I do! Once we shake Alphys, we'll head over to the Ruins and figure something out." Glen paused, the mention of the Ruins bringing to mind a question.

"Say, Chara, while you were in the Ruins," Glen said, rubbing the back of her head. "Did you hear or see anything about another little girl named Frisk?"

Chara's eyes widened with recognition, but before she could respond, Glen heard Papyrus's door slam again, followed by an enraged, "HUMAN!"

"Crap." Glen said, glancing at the entrance to the shed. "Sounds like Alphys finished with the kitchen."

"Why does she want to hurt me?" Chara asked, fear again in her eyes.

"She wants your soul to break the barrier to the surface. Long story." She hurried to the door. Tearing a plank from the ceiling supports, she slid it through the handle and twisted it so it would prevent the door from opening. Glancing around the cabin, her eyes fell on one of the glass windows in the back of the shed.

"Right." Glen said, hurrying over to the window and yanking it open. "All right, Chara. You first."

Chara took a step back, a worried look on her face.

Glen sighed and said, "I promise I'll do everything I can to protect you from harm, but if we don't go now, that's gonna be a lot harder. I know I didn't make the best first impression, but I have to ask you to trust me ... please."

Chara still looked uncertain, but the loud bang of the shed door being hit by something short and scaly helped her make up her mind. She took Glen's hand and held it tightly.

Glen helped her through the window, setting her down gently outside just as another loud bang sounded from the door, this time punctuated with a loud crack. With a final glance at the door, Glen hurled herself out of the window and into the massive snow poff behind the shed.

Popping her head out of the pile of light and fluffy snow, Glen quickly reached up and pulled the window shut moments before the crash of the door being torn from its hinges shot through the air.

Chara tugged at Glen's shirt, looking fearfully into the shed. "What are we gonna do?"

Looking back at Chara's wide red eyes, Glen said, "Behind the house. Papyrus wanted me to go behind the house. C'mon!"

They hurried to the back of the house, Glen shoving past snow-covered bushes and brittle tall grass until she found herself in front of a small unmarked door the same color as the house. If it wasn't for the handle, Glen would've missed it altogether.

She turned the handle and found it locked. "Ah, right. The key!"

Glen fished through her pockets, the growing sound of splintering wood and Alphys's growling and roaring spurring her to search all the faster until her fingers brushed against the silver key. She yanked it out of her pocket and quickly unlocked the door, standing aside so Chara could dart inside first.

Glen started to follow her in, but froze at the sound of Undyne calling out, "Undyne, look! Footprints!"

"Dammit!" Glen met Chara's frightened gaze.

"Lock the door." Glen said before tossing the key into the room and pulling the door shut. Not waiting to listen for the click, Glen took off running, taking a moment to make sure her trail through the snow was very visible.

She raced around the front of the house, briefly considering her options before choosing the path opposite Waterfall. She raced through the town, careful to make sure she was seen by several of the startled residents.

Sprinting past the sign at the town entrance, Glen risked a glance back. It was a bit blurry, but she was fairly certain she saw something yellow and gray in the distance growing larger by the second.

"Ha!" She thought to herself. "You want a chase? I'll give you a chase."


	36. Chapter 35 - Smash the State

**Chapter 35**

 **Smash the State**

The cellar door banged against the stone wall of the building. Grillby went down first, after which the wolf-man turned his gaze on Sans.

"Down." The wolf-man commanded.

"Do I get a treat?" Sans asked, giving the wolf-man his best grin.

The wolf-man looked as though he dearly wanted to knock Sans through the cellar doors and down the stairs, but Grillby stopped him with a look.

"It would be in your best interest to not antagonize Wolfred." Grillby said. "Years of throwing the ice needed to cool the core has given him formidable strength and a mean temper."

"I'll bet." Sans said. "After all, they put you movin' ice when you were bone to be wild. Am I right, Wolfred."

Wolfred snorted. "Are you gonna walk down there or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm goin'."

The stairs led to a basement used for storage by the looks of it. Boxes of wood, metal, and cardboard lay behind fenced off pens on either side of a main aisle. Grillby led Sans down the aisle until they came to a pen gate bearing a tag that read, 'Potent Potables'.

"What's a potable?" Sans asked curiously. Grillby didn't reply, other than to motion for Sans to continue following him. Once in the pen, they approached a large green steamer trunk bearing an insignia too old and faded to make out.

Grillby opened the lid to reveal another staircase within.

"Nice." Sans said. To his surprise, Grillby nodded, seemingly accepting the compliment. Feeling that he was in no real danger, Sans followed Grillby down the hidden stairs into a large chamber filled with gold. It wasn't in coins, however; it was all embedded in armor and weapons, no doubt to increase their power. There were monsters looking through the equipment, inspecting the armor for cracks and checking blades and chambers for damage. From the sheer amount of activity, Sans realized this wasn't just routine checking; these monsters were about to go to war.

"Wow." Sans said. "Nice collection you have here."

Again, Grillby accepted this with a nod. They walked to the back of the chamber, where another door awaited them.

A hooded figure turned as Grillby opened the door. "Ah, excellent. Good work, Grillby. Where did you find him?"

"He just appeared in front of us." Grillby said. "With my daughter, no less."

"Really? You should've brought her as well, Grillby. This concerns her as much as anyone else."

"I don't want my daughter involved with this." Grillby said.

"She's already involved."

"I don't want her in danger!" Grillby said, flames rising.

"At this point, I'd say that's a given." said the hooded figure, but held up a hand to forestall the argument. "I understand your concerns, and respect your wishes, old friend. Let us speak no more of it."

Grillby nodded and turned to leave.

"You do not wish to remain?" The hooded figure asked.

"I have preparations to make." Grillby glanced at Sans. "Are you certain you wish to be alone with him?"

"Ah, our mysterious visitor. Do not worry; I am certain he means us no harm. In fact, I hope he is willing to lend us his assistance. After all, he's shown little love for Papyrus ... or the Sans of our universe."

Sans's sockets widened. "So you know who I am?"

"Indeed. The physical resemblance to our Sans is uncanny, but your behavior is anything but." Sighing, the hooded figure said, "At least these days. Our Sans was once a cheery prankster himself. Papyrus, while never exactly pleasant, was simply a guard who fiercely protected us. Everything was different; we were trapped, but there was a sense of hope."

"What happened?" Sans asked. "What turned everything to hell?"

The hooded figure shook his head. "The king took in a human child, the first to fall to the Underground in hundreds of years. The king's son found her, brought her home, and that's when we discovered that the humans thought we were just legends and myths. All those years we thought they were just waiting outside to destroy us, and it turns out they didn't even think we were real."

"I was just a simple river ferry monster at the time." The hooded figure said, "But I remember how the news hit us. Most were relieved there wasn't an army waiting to eradicate us. Some were insulted that they'd forgotten us after they were the ones to start the war."

"Did they?" Sans asked.

River Person shrugged. "No one is sure. Why not blame the humans? In any case, when the Queen made it public that she and the King were adopting the human as their own, the Underground took it pretty well. It was like a test run, seeing if a human could live among us without any repercussions."

Sans waited patiently as River Person took a seat and motioned for Sans to do the same. Once the skeleton was seated, River Person said, "Then, one day, the human got sick. We tried to cure her, but no matter what we did, she'd just get worse the next day. In the end, she died."

"And that's what pushed the king over the edge?" Sans asked.

"No. I think things would've been fine, actually; the King and Queen mourned the death, of course, but that would've been the end of it, until ..."

"Yeah?" Sans said, leaning forward.

"The prince disappeared the next day along with the human's body. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened; he must've absorbed her soul and passed the barrier. Word made it around pretty quick about it; I remember there was actually a pool as to whether he was going to get help, going to forcibly take the rest of the souls, or if he just took the opportunity to escape."

River Person sighed again. "He came back that very evening. He spoke briefly of the surface, of great dead forests and an empty village where little remained but shadows of ash on crumbling walls, of rain that burned and strange misshapen beasts whose flesh looked to be melting, and humans wearing rags and masks who assaulted him. He dispatched them, but their weapons left deep injuries that even magic would not cure."

Sans wasn't sure what to say. The surface of his universe was fine, and Glen's was even better the way she spoke of it. The hellscape Asriel described sounded downright horrifying.

After a long pause, River Person said, "He died there, in the throne room in front of the King and the Queen. The Queen ... she went mad with grief. Some claim she left the King, others say that the King banished her; either way, her departure marked the beginning of our problems. The King took Asriel's words to indicate that what little humanity was left on the surface is in complete anarchy."

"So might as well take over and rule it all himself, right?" Sans said.

River Person nodded. "Indeed. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for him to go full-on paranoid dictator. He became convinced people were hiding humans. It was just inspections at first; no one complained much. He'd just lost his children and wife; of course he'd be a little highly strung. Of course, all it would take was for him to find one human."

Shaking his head, River Person said, "There was a friend of mine; we all called him Mister Kidd. His kid brought another human home; probably would've been fine, but he came at the same time as Asgore's inspection. Asgore went insane with anger; killed the entire Kidd family and tore out the human's soul in front of everyone. After that, he instituted a new rule; when Alphys's sensors detected a human presence in the Underground, he'd have someone executed every day until they were found."

A long moment of silence passed through the room. Sans could only shake his head; that things could've gone so wrong made what happened in his own universe seem a kind mercy in comparison.

"So this place, all you people here ... you're what, some kind of rebellion?" Sans asked.

River Person chuckled. "I could move goods and people with ease, along paths the King and his agents never took. It took us a few years to dig out this place, but once we had it set up, it was easy to start amassing weapons and equipment from the war effort. We've been moving our pieces carefully for a long time, and now we are finally ready to make our move."

"Your move?" Sans said. "You mean, what? Overthrow the King?"

"The King, the Royal Guard including Papyrus and our Sans ... and Alphys. She has her own machinations, and I fear when we tip our hand, she'll tip hers as well."

"I see." Sans said, rubbing his eye-sockets. Things were getting so complicated. "Okay, so why were you looking for me?"

"Asriel's description of the surface does not sound inviting." River Person said. "We were prepared to deal with that until Sans came strolling into Grillby's for the first time in years, cracking jokes like he did in the old days and paying in gold. You see, gold coins have become symbols of the resistance."

"Which is why Pap got all hot in the skull." Sans said. "He thought she was part of the resistance."

"That's when we found your little toy."

"My little ..." Sans reached for his pants pocket, only to find Glen's dimensional analyzer long gone.

The River Person removed the analyzer from the depths of his robe and held it out to Sans. "You have to watch your pockets, especially when you're within a crowd."

"At the execution." Sans murmured. He'd brushed past the crowd to stop Papyrus; someone must've lifted it from him then.

"Our technicians were baffled by it for ages ... and then you pulled your little stunt in the Core. Fluctuations in the fabric of reality." River Person moved closer to Sans. "You seek to go back to your reality, yes? We would like to accompany you."

Sans started to object, but again he thought of his own Underground, the barrier and the monsters gone. Assuming he could control the shift, why couldn't he just take all these people there? What harm would there be? Glen seemed positive about the Systems Alliance, after all.

"I'm game." Sans said, "But I gotta be honest; I don't even know if I can-"

The chamber door banged open. Grillby stepped through, an alarmed look on his flaming face. "Sir! You need to see this!"

River Person rose from his chair and followed Grillby out of the room, Sans following after. Grillby led them to a monitoring station, several of the screens displaying security feeds from around the Underground. The largest screen, however, currently displayed an emblem Sans recognized as belonging to the MTT Network.

"It's on a bunch of the security feeds too." Said the smoking bunny man working the monitors. "It just popped up there about five minutes ago, and now it's on over half of the feeds. Someone's projecting this across the Underground.

"Showing what?" River Person said curiously.

"I dunno." The bunny man said before taking a drag of his cigarette. "It looks like they're waiting until the rest of the cameras are hacked."

"Doesn't look like they'll be waiting long." Sans said, ignoring the fact that monsters were edging away from him. He was right, though; the last few cameras were being taken over, one by one until every screen showed the MTT Network logo.

"All right." River Person said. "Now what?"

The screen flashed before anyone could answer, revealing a nervous-looking Mettaton.

"Hello, Underground!" He said, his voice trembling slightly. "It is I, your great entertainer, Mettaton!"

The word 'applause' flashed on the bottom of the screen. No one applauded, not even from the speakers of the monitor.

"Thank you, thank you. Today, I've got a fantastic new show, premiering ... well, right now! I am proud to welcome you to Pitfalls and Prizes!"

After a few more moments of the 'applause' sign flashing, Mettaton backed away from the camera. "Pitfalls and Prizes is the fantastic gameshow where monsters run through a trap-laden obstacle course for wonderful prizes!"

The monitor switched to a camera feed currently flying past the snow fields west of Snowdin.

"Ah, yes! Snowdin field, a wondrous winter wonderland ... or a trap-filled hellscape made expressly for catching fallen humans. Today, our contestants will be making their way through Snowdin field for a chance at our fantastic prize."

"And that prize, hidden somewhere within the Snowdin Fields, is this!"

Mettaton appeared on screen, approaching a blanket-covered box ... or a cage.

"Oh no." Sans murmured, realization creeping over him. "Tell me you didn't."

Mettaton pulled away the blanket to reveal a cold and frightened-looking Frisk.

Sans kicked the leg of the chair and spun about, hands on his head. "Of course that metal-brained toaster found the kid. Great."

"And who are our lucky contestants, you may ask?" Mettaton said, his smile dazzling. "That's the biggest surprise of all! Today's contestants are all of you wonderful viewers watching right now! Think of the honor! Think of the prestige! Think of the ratings!"

"Think of the carnage." Sans muttered, rubbing his eye-sockets.

"But don't feel like locals have an advantage." Mettaton said, all nervousness gone as he pranced around the cage, "Although the esteemed Commander Papyrus may have built these traps, I've taken the time to change them so even he doesn't know the solutions. Yes, everyone is on even footing, so if you want to win big, you'd better run to Snowdin and get to searching! If not, then just sit back, grab some of your MTT Brand Absinthe-flavored popcorn, and enjoy the show! Oh, look at that!"

The camera feeds switched to the eastern side of Snowdin, where a familiar figure was currently visible running. Just the sight of NegaSans made many glance at Sans in confusion, their earlier fear fading fast.

"It looks like we've got our first contestant! Sans, loyal brother of Commander Papyrus! Looks like he'll have a head start!"

"Ah, hell." Sans said, turning from the screens. "I gotta go."

"Wait!" River Person said. "But don't you see? This is perfect?"

"All I see is a terrified kid put up as a prize because I couldn't shut my big mouth." Sans said, but River Person just shook his head.

"No, I mean think about it." River Person looked to the assembled crowd. "Everyone's going to be heading to Snowdin to get the human now. Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne ... anyone looking to curry a little favor. This is the perfect chance to attack Castle Dreemurr!"

Murmurs of assent were soon followed by stronger, firmer words of agreement, though not everyone was in favor.

"Are you sure we have enough people?" Grillby asked, the lone voice of uncertainty. "The king's guards are nothing to brush off."

"I agree, but we may never get a chance like this again. With Undyne, Alphys, and the skeleton brothers too far away to interfere, this may be our only chance."

Grillby still didn't seem confidant, but he was the only one. The rest of the rebels were chanting, "DOWN WITH DREEMURR!"

"Everyone get your gear and get ready; with any luck, we can have Asgore off the throne before the human is discovered!"

More cries of agreement rang through the chamber. As the other monsters hurried around to prepare, River Person approached Sans.

"Your assistance could be vital." River Person said.

"Sorry," Sans said, glancing nervously at the screen, "But I gotta help that kid. I'm probably the only person goin' after her that isn't just gonna tear her apart for the creamy soul inside."

River Person stared at Sans for a long moment. "It has been a long time since I've seen kindness and true selfless concern on that face."

After a few more moments, River Person shook his head and said, "Okay. We'll secure the castle; rescue the child if you can and return so we can proceed to abandoning this reality."

"Hang on;" Sans said, "Maybe you can help with that; I think I can break through reality, but I need more power. I'm thinking the human Souls Asgore's been hoarding might do the trick."

"That's right.' River Person said, scratching his chin. "The human souls ... we could work that into our strategy. All right, Sans; we'll take care of it. We'll start gathering the rest of the monsters into the palace once we've ousted Asgore; meet us there as soon as you can and we'll try to have some of the souls ready."

"The souls are the most heavily guarded things in the castle." Grillby said to Sans as River Person walked away to prepare for the battle ahead. "Even the throne room might be easier to take. How do you expect us to get through all the security he's got set up around the souls?"

"Well, Grillby it's all about electricity."

"Electricity?"

"Yeah. Remember, a good charge always goes through the point of least resistance." Sans said.

Grillby cracked a smile ... a little one, but there was definitely a grin there.

"Just be careful, okay?" Sans said. "Fuku needs you, so make sure you get out of there alive, okay?"

"I will." Grillby said, shaking Sans's hand. "You be careful too ... Sans."


	37. Chapter 36 - Not Far Enough

**Chapter 36**

 **Not Far Enough**

Glen spotted Asriel as they passed near the Junkyards. She gave him a wave, the manacles ensuring that one hand soon followed the other.

"Hey Asriel." She said, her tone glum. "Find anything interesting?"

"Glen!" He said, eyes wide. "What the hell happened?"

"Funny thing; did you know ice is slippery even when you're barefoot, and that there are way too many precipices between the Ruins and Snowdin?"

Alphys let out a laugh. She'd been in high spirits since catching Glen hanging from a root by her numb feet. Alphys had been all too polite in assisting her from the edge, which somehow made the situation all the more embarrassing, especially after she was clapped in irons and flung over Alphys's shoulder like a sack of old laundry.

"Guess I'm going to see the Queen." Glen said in a resigned tone. "Any sign of our metal friend?"

"Metal friend?" Undyne said. She was riding alongside Alphys in a floating car about the size of a beachball, looking quite comical. "Are you referring to Napstaton? Is he involved in this?"

"Napstaton." Glen repeated. "Television celebrity, I'm guessing."

"Radio DJ, actually." Undyne said, pride in her smile. "My finest invention."

"Oh. Well, no, I've never met him." Glen said.

"I'll get Mister Kidd." Asriel said.

"No, Asriel, it's ..." Glen sighed as Asriel ran back into the Junkyard. "Nice kid."

"Yeah." Alphys said. "Shame about what happened with his parents though."

"Alphys!" Undyne said, the scales on her cheeks growing red. "You shouldn't speak of the royal family like that!"

"Ha! I was there, Undyne. Never thought I'd see the day those two would go at it like that." Alphys shook her head, the ridges on the back of her head poking briefly into Glen's side. "Just cause I serve the queen doesn't mean I can't have an opinion, Undyne."

"I know," Undyne said nervously, "But her majesty's been on edge lately, more so than usual. I don't want you to end up hurt or in prison for antagonizing her."

Alphys turned and pulled Undyne's face to hers. Glen watched them kiss with eyebrows raised.

"You go, girl." Glen said as they released.

"Don't worry about me, sweetheart." Alphys said, running a claw through Undyne's vibrantly red hair. "The queen just cares about results, and I sure got 'em today."

"But what about the other human?"

Alphys let out a grunt as she shifted Glen slightly. "We only need one. The other one's just a kid. We'll worry about it later; right now, we got everything we need to take down the barrier."

A timid smile fell over Undyne's face. "I can't wait to see the sun."

"Me either." Alphys said. "We'll go find a nice beach somewhere. Think about it; a whole big ocean to swim in, plenty of soft, warm sand ... just you and me and that bikini you know I like."

Undyne's face went completely red at that. "Alphy!"

"Sounds nice to me." Glen said, winking at her. "You oughtta check out Florida; nice clear waters and glistening white sand. Or hey, Hawaii's always a fun place to plan a honeymoon."

"Oh, gosh." Undyne said, turning her head away but not before Glen saw the shy smile.

Alphys chucked. "You're all right, human. I have to admit, you gave me a pretty good chase there until the end too. A shame I gotta bring you to the queen. You got someone on the surface?"

"Not on this planet."

Undyne looked at Glen, eyes wide. "This ... oh, wow. Your from another world?"

"Nah, but my wife is." Glen said. "Teria Myssohn. Beautiful woman, though not much of a beach-goer. Messes with her fur."

"Oh ... I'm sorry." Undyne said. "Can we deliver her a message?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"But the Queen-"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll figure out something. I'm clever like that."

"Don't give up until the very end, eh?" Undyne nodded approvingly. "Good on you."

They were nearing Hotland now, the last of the waterfalls giving way to deep pools of lava. A familiar face waited for them at a sentry station ahead, his orange hood up over his skull.

Grunting in way of greeting, Alphys tried to pass the sentry station only for a warning tone to sound and a long metal railroad gate to swing down, blocking the path ahead.

"What the ..." Alphys said, clearly taken aback. "Hey! What's the big idea? When the hell did you even install that?"

"Good afternoon slash day slash morning, fellow monster.!" Papyrus said. "This path is restricted. I'll need to see some identification before I can let you pass."

"What?" Alphys said, narrowing her eye at the skeleton. "It's me you bone-brain. Captain Alphys."

"Oh, of course it is." Papyrus said, his tone conveying a sense of deep disbelief. "And I'm sure your fishy friend here would say the same thing."

"I'm Royal Scientist Undyne!" Undyne pulled her nametag from her coat, a small zipline attaching it to the cloth.

Papyrus looked it over and nodded. "Looks good ... though I hear they make some pretty good fakes these days."

"Pretty good ... Papyrus, what is this? You know me, and you know Alphys."

"I can't rightly say, madam. I'll have to clear it with the head office." Papyrus held his hand to the side of his head, pinky and thumb bone outstretched.

"Papyrus." Alphys growled.

"Hold on; it's still ringing." Papyrus said.

Alphys let Glen fall behind her and stomped over to the skeleton. Leaning heavily on the counter, she said in a low dangerous tone, "Whatever game your playing is seriously pissing me off right now."

"Madam, security is not a game." I'll have you know I take my job very ser- oh, yes, hello! Boss-who-totally-exists? Yeah, I've got this lizard person and her fish-girlfriend here ..."

While Undyne and Alphys were fuming and Papyrus continued his conversation, Glen felt tiny hands suddenly working at her wrists. She turned to see Magnificent and Chara behind her, hurriedly working at her bonds with small devices that looked like pizza-cutters with tiny buzz-saws instead of blades. They cut through the manacles before quietly hurrying to her feet to get those as well.

It wasn't long before Alphys reached the point where her patience ran out. Grabbing the skeleton by his collar, she snarled, "Joke's over. You either let us pass or I'm going to crush you into dust with my bare hands."

"Oh!" Papyrus said, "You're THAT Alphys! Well why didn't you say so? Let me just get this gate open for you."

A loud 'bing' sounded, after which, the security arm slowly rose ... only to fall the moment later.

"Sorry, ladies." Papyrus said, flashing them an extra-wide smile. "Damn thing sticks like crazy."

The final manacle fell to the ground. It wasn't the sound of clinking metal chain that gave them away, however; it was Magnificent's loud cry of "Aha!"

He clamped his hands around his mouth, but Alphys was already turning around. Her eyes narrowed at Magnificent. "You."

"The Magnificent Sans is tactically knowledgeable enough to know when to fight and to run away!" With that, he took off running back toward Waterfall, Glen following with Chara on her shoulders.

"You son of a ... GET BACK HERE, HUMAN!"

Glen and Sans ran back into the water-filled cavern, leaving the oppressive heat of Hotland behind. Unfortunately, what Alphys lacked in speed she more than made up for in tenacity. Glen, on the other hand, had spent the last thirty minutes with her legs chained up. While the exercise felt good, she was also tiring out fast.

"I hope you have a plan, Magnificent."

"Uh ... can't you blast her with freezing rays? Humans have those, right?"

"No!"

"What? But Papyrus said ..."

"Uh-oh." Chara said.

Glen flashed her a glance. "Uh-oh what?"

Chara pointed behind them. Glen risked a glance back and saw

Undyne's little floater-thing zooming up behind Alphys. With a curt nod, Alphys leapt onto the floater. It nearly scraped along the ground, but still flew straight toward them at a frightening speed.

"All right." Glen said, "Are you two familiar with the PU strategy?"

"The what?" Chara said.

"Hold your nose."

"Hold me ..." Eyes wide, Chara clamped her hand over her nose. Glen pushed herself as fast as she could, her eyes on the place ahead where a river flowed under the path.

With Alphys and Undyne just moments behind them, Glen hurled herself from the path and into the river. Alphys made a grab at her, but the floater was going too fast, and wasn't designed for sudden stops. It sped on, Magnificent leaping out of the way moments before it would've crashed into him. Both Alphys and Undyne shrieking, the floater zoomed onward into the chamber beyond.

Having caught the very edge of the bridge, Glen pushed Chara up before climbing up herself.

Chara was giggling. "PU. I get it."

Chuckling as well, Glen and Chara hurried over to Magnificent.

"The Magnificent Sans is fine." He said shakily as they helped him to his feet. "Though I'll probably never be part of the Royal Guard after helping two huma-"

Chara hugged him, stopping him short. A moment later, Glen wrapped her arms around both of them and lifted them in the air, Chara squealing happily as Glen said, "My heroes!"

Another crash resounded through the cavern, drawing their celebration short.

"Captain Alphys! Doc Undyne!" Sans wiggled out of Glen's grasp and took off running toward the sound of the crash. Trading a quick glance with Chara, Glen nodded and hurried after him.

Signs of the floater's passage were evident all over the cavern; patches of flattened grass, large amounts of gravel near suspiciously new dents in the stone walls. From the look of it, Alphys had not been able to slow the floater before hitting the wall across from the passage, after which she lost control.

They hurried along the irregular path left by the out-of-control floater until they reached a long bridge of wooden planks over a deep chasm. While Glen couldn't see the bottom, she could see the plume of smoke rising from it. She could also see Alphys and Undyne hanging off the side of the bridge ... or more accurately, Undyne was hanging off of Alphys and Alphys was hanging off the side of the bridge."

"Hold on, Doc!" Magnificent said, kneeling at the side of the bridge and grabbing her wrist. He pulled with all his strength. For a moment, impossibly, he actually looked as though he might be able to lift the both of them.

Unfortunately, his balance shifted and he soon started to tip over the side as well.

He let out a cry as he fell over, but Glen was already moving. She dove at the little skeleton and caught him by the ankles. It was heavy, but fortunately, Undyne was fairly light without all the muscle and Sans barely weighed anything at all.

Pulling them up still wasn't easy; the bridge was only a few feet across, and not entirely stable. Still, She was able to drag Sans back onto the bridge. Undyne was next; Sans and Glen pulled her up together, Sans helping Undyne as Glen moved to grab Alphys's hands."

"You've gotta be kidding." Alphys said,still clinging to Undyne's lets. "You expect me to trust a human? You'll drop me the moment I let go!"

"So what? You want to drag Undyne down with you? That's a bluff, and you know it. You'd never intentionally harm Undyne, not in a million years."

There was surprise in Alphys's eye. "You say that like you know."

"I do. Now stop being stubborn and let me help you already."

"Alphys, please!" Undyne said.

Alphys looked at her for a long moment before looking at Glen. With a sigh, she grabbed one of Glen's hands and clenched it tightly, her talons digging into Glen's skin slightly. Wincing, Glen helped her to the Bridge, Magnificent, Chara, and Undyne assisting until Alphys collapsed on the side of the bridge, her breathing heavy.

Undyne and Alphys exchanged a long glance before hugging each other rightly.

"Aww!" Magnificent, his pupils little blue stars as he watched the lovers embrace. "That's so sweet!"

"Yeah." Glen said, smiling.

Undyne separated from Alphys to fix Glen and Chara with a glare. "This doesn't change anything ... I'm under orders to bring you in."

"Alphys!" Undyne said, her hand on Alphys's shoulder.

"I can't betray the Queen's trust." Alphys said, bowing her head. "I just ... I just can't."

Everyone looked uncertain for a long moment before Glen sighed and said, "Y'know? Go ahead and bring us to her."

"What?" Magnificent said, eye sockets wide. "But ... but our amazing rescue!"

"Went off perfectly, and I thank all three of you for the effort." Glen assured Sans, nodding at the far end of the bridge where Papyrus was no waiting. "Truth is, I've been thinking. The monsters of this universe don't deserve to be stuck down here. Probably didn't deserve it to begin with, given my knowledge of humans back in the day."

"But we'll need seven souls." Alphys said, her tone hushed. "We'll need one more ... either yours or ..."

Chara clenched Glen's leg. Glen ruffled the little girl's hair. "Hey; I said I'd keep you safe, yeah? Don't worry. You're off the hook."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sans said, "Are you sayin' your gonna give up your soul to save us?"

"I ain't gonna ..." Glen stopped, certain she'd felt the bridge wobble. "Okay, can we get off this thing before, y'know, it falls apart? We can talk along the way."

As they departed, Chara gave Glen a worried look.

"Don't worry, kid." Glen said. "They don't really need a soul; they just need the barrier broken, and if there's one thing I'm an expert at, it's breaking things."


	38. Chapter 37 - Physical Challenge

**Chapter 37**

 **Physical Challenge**

Sans fell out of the shortcut running, inches away from the sign outside of Snowdin. Already there were several piles of ash about, remains of monsters whose lives were already claimed in the name of entertainment and greed.

There was no time to grieve; Frisk was in danger, and Sans was obviously late to the party. He hurried past the sign and into the snow fields.

His slippers thudded across the stone bridge carefully carved to resemble a wooden bridge. He kept his eyes open for traps, though in truth he had no idea what to expect. After all, NegaPapyrus was a completely different monster than Sans's real brother; where Papyrus's traps were basic and simply impeded passage, NegaPapyrus seemed like the sort to leave deadly traps.

The truth of that observation became clear shortly after Sans crossed the bridge; several more piles of ash lay on the ground surrounding a fancy-looking turnstile in the middle of the path. As Sans drew near, the turnstile spun into motion, quickly increasing in speed until anything coming into contact with the turnstile would either get smashed to pieces or knocked into the distant horizon.

Sans edged past the turnstile, careful to keep his balance as he teetered on the precipice. It whirred onward, almost seaming eager to send him to his death. It was a close shave; the metal tips of the turnstile hit the edge of his coat a few times, though it was never close enough to catch it.

Finally, he was past the turnstile and back on the snow-covered path. He hurried on even as the turnstile's spin slowed behind him. There were footprints in the snow; clearly other monsters had made it this far. Sans could only hope they'd have more trouble with the traps.

Given that the path between Snowdin and the Ruins was a straight line, Sans was fairly certain he'd find Frisk closer to the Ruins side of things. He briefly wondered about his mysterious friend behind the door, but quickly pushed it from his mind. Given what happened to everyone else, he didn't want to know what she was like there.

It didn't take him long to spot another monster. A small mouse-like monster mostly obscured by a scarf was hurrying through the field ahead. The field itself was filled with snow poffs ... or what appeared to be snow poffs.

"Careful!" Sans called out.

The mouse-monster glanced back, let out a terrified squeak, and promptly ran as fast as his little legs could take him. Unfortunately, that happened to be right into a snow poff. Sans brought up his hand to cover his eyes moments before the poff exploded, sending bits of the mouse's scarf flying past him. When he looked at the place the mouse had been, only scattered ash remained.

"All right." Sans said, glancing around the field. The poffs were too obvious; Mettaton could've set some mines underneath the thick snow anywhere. Fortunately, that was a simple problem; Sans sent a barrage of bones shooting through the snow. He nodded in grim satisfaction when several spots along the path unmarked by snow poffs exploded as well.

"So far so good." Sans thought, continuing past the minefield. He was a little surprised, in fact; he expected things to be much more difficult.

The next trap turned out to be a simple switch puzzle, not that different than the one Papyrus used in Sans's home dimension. The goal was simple; simply set all ground panels to green circles then hit the large raised panel. They started off as red X marks, would turn to green circles when someone passed over them once, and then into blue triangles; fortunately, they could be reset via the raised switch.

In truth, it was the puzzle of which Sans's Papyrus was most proud. Set over ice, it was extremely difficult for people to attempt the puzzle without accidentally sliding over the edge of the ice flow and down a gentle slope to a small snowfield below. In that dimension, there were only cliffs and darkness below, leading Sans to believe that there would be no second chances there.

Someone was attempting the puzzle as Sans drew near. The clam-man was nearly done as well; he only had two more panels to go.

The clam-man looked up as Sans approached. Sans raised his hands and took a step back to make it clear he was not going to interfere. After all, if the clam-man finished the puzzle, Sans could simply cross to the next part with him.

Nodding nervously at Sans, the Clam-Man seemed to steady himself and carefully position himself to slide over the next panel. Sans winced, realizing immediately that the Clam-Man's aim was just a bit off.

The Clam-Man must've noticed too. He scrambled to reach the red x as he passed, his pointy arms just inches too far.

"No!" He shrieked as he slid onto a green circle, turning it into a blue triangle.

"S'all right." Sans said, taking off his slippers to help prevent his sliding. "Stay there; I'll hit the switch."

"What?" The Clam-Man said, sounding startled. "No! No, don't!"

"Take it easy." Sans said, walking over to the switch. He pressed one foot down on it and pushed it down, only spotting the small ash piles on the other panels far too late.

The moment Sans hit the switch, every single panel on the ice shot a burst of magical energy straight up. The Clam-Man shrieked for a moment only to fall silent moments later. When the magical energy faded, the Clam-Man was frozen solid. As Sans watched, cracks radiated out from the chunk of ice moments before it simply crumbled to pieces, leaving nothing but ice and ash.

"All right." Sans said, "Maybe not so easy."

"Oh, my!" Said a voice Sans did not want to hear. Sans turned to see a small floating camera flying over his head, its view centered on the remains of Clam-Man. "Looks like Clam-Man didn't have a very ice time!"

Sans felt a little sick. He loved puns, but to use the death of a monster? Even he had some standards.

Mettaton's camera turned to Sans. "And look! Another Sans has joined the competition! Yes, you heard it right folks; this Sans is from another dimension! Will the different challenges he's faced there help him in this competition, only time will tell."

Sans raised his hand; he'd use telekinesis to carry him to the panels ... at least, that's what he told himself. As he tried to lift himself, he found his telekinesis unresponsive.

"Aww, sweetheart," Mettaton said, "I'm sorry, but telekinesis is not allowed for this part of the contest. You'll have to solve it the same way as our version of you did."

"Great." Sans muttered, rubbing his temples.

The first step was to not rush into action. He needed to figure out the puzzle out before starting, otherwise ... well, it was either be iced and shattered, or fall down the slope to the field below to whatever Mettaton put down there.

He moved slowly, walking from panel to panel as much as possible. More than once he found himself at the very edge. From what he could tell, there was no slope in this dimension, just a drop. Probably onto spikes, he reasoned.

It was slow work, but eventually, he slid over the final panel. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned back to the switch only to find he was being watched.

"You." Papyrus said, eye-sockets narrowing. "I should've realized you weren't actually my brother. You're too competent, too bold."

"You sayin' I've got more spine?"

Papyrus's skull twitched. "Still, you've impressed me. You found the human child, escaped from that freak Alphys's lab, and even fooled me for a time. Perhaps you could be of use to me."

"Don't count on it." Sans said, mentally gauging the distance between himself and the switch. He'd have to hit it fast and immediately backpedal, a difficult feat on the ice.

"A pity. Your strength would've been an asset." Papyrus raised his hand, several bones honed to razor-sharp points appearing in the air. "Then again, I suppose you aren't technically my brother, so I needn't feel guilty about ending you. Farewell."'

Sans made a run for the switch. Papyrus started to lower his hand, only for a burst of blue flame to hit his arm and knock him off balance. Fuku dashed past him and hit the ice sliding. Papyrus snarled and slashed at her with a clawed hand, but missed her by inches. She slid over the ice at top speed, pushing the switch as she passed and catching Sans and pulling him with her to the other side of the ice.

Fuming, Papyrus stomped forward, his boots giving him enough traction to maintain an even, if slow pace.

"You!" Papyrus said, his face a mask of hatred. "I should've snuffed you and your traitorous father out a long time ago, just like I snuffed out your mother."

Fuku's flame brightened for a moment. She shot a single flame toward Papyrus, though not directly at him; it hit the ground at his feet as he continued walking. The small amount of water made the ice extra slippery. In moments Papyrus lost his balance and crashed to the ground in an awkward pile.

Sans and Fuku watched as his momentum carried him over the side of the platform, where fell into the darkness below with an angry scream.

"That was perfect timing." Sans said, turning to the fiery young lady only to discover her shaking.

"Hey." He said, taking her hand. "Are you okay?"

"I ... I don't know." she admitted. "I ... killed him."

A loud angry cry shot through the air from below the ice puzzle.

"Maybe not." Sans said, "Still, thanks."

"Thanks?"

While his skull lacked the anatomy for an actual kiss, that didn't stop him from planting a little magic on Fuku's cheek. "For savin' me, Fu."

The flame of her cheeks went pink, but before she could respond, they heard another angry shout from Papyrus.

"THIS ISN'T OVER! I'LL TEAR YOUR BONES APART RIGHT AFTER I PUT THAT FLAMING BITCH OUT LIKE A CANDLE!"

"Wow." Sans said, looking back at the pit. "Some mouth on that guy, huh?"

Fuku giggled as Sans presented his arm. "Shall we hurry on, milady?"

"Yes." she said, taking his arm. "Lets."

Together, they moved more quickly through the forest.

. Flame based traps were no problem for Fuku; likewise, while Sans's Telekinesis was still being jammed somehow, he could still throw his bones to hit some switches and buttons. More piles of ash lined the path through Snowdin Forest. In a way, it was quite helpful; they could see where the traps were, and take steps to avoid them.

They ran into few other monsters. Some were actually in retreat, no longer interested in the killer gameshow. Others attacked; a bad idea considering one of them was a flame elemental and Sans was a pretty good shot with his summoned bones. They agreed not to kill anyone unless necessary, and were fortunate that the issue never came up.

Soon, however, they reached a point with no ashes. Their progress slowed as they walked carefully, never more than a foot or so apart. Occasionally, one of Mettaton's cameras would zoom by, focusing on them for a moment before zooming off again.

"Say," Sans asked Fuku as they passed the clearing where his Papyrus attempted to subdue the human child with spaghetti, "How did you find me anyway?"

"Educated guess." She said with a smile. "I was still in New Home looking for Frisk when I heard Mettaton's announcement. At that point, I knew you'd be heading back, so I came here as fast as I could."

"All the way across the Underground." Sans said, shaking his head. "I'm gonna have to call you flashfire."

She giggled. Hearing her laugh made Sans feel strangely pleased with himself.

Their luck continued to be quite good, though Sans nearly tripped an avalanche near the Ball field, several snowbanks being rigged to tripwires along the path. It was more of a worry to Fuku, seeing as a mass of snow could very well extinguish her if it covered her completely.

Still, as they crossed the bridge into the final stretch, both felt hopeful.

"Guess he ran out of traps." Sans said. "I ain't complainin' ... still."

"Maybe he thought more people would make it to the end." Fuku said, still eyeing every tree warily after one had come alive earlier and tried to swat them off a cliff. "Y'know; have monsters fight each other. I have to admit, it's the most interesting thing I've ever seen on MTT Network."

Sans grinned, but before he could say anything, he spotted it in the distance; down past the sentry stations, he was just able to make out something glimmering ... something roughly box-shaped.

"Almost there!" Sans said. He broke into a run, pushing his body as much as he dared just to get there a little faster. Something bothered him, however; where was NegaSans? They hadn't passed him, at least as far as they knew. Sans supposed it was possible that one of the piles of ash they'd passed was him, but Sans couldn't accept that.

His thoughts were interrupted as Fuku breezed by him a moment later, skirt fluttering in the wind. She seemed to skate gracefully across the snow, her feet leaving small trails of warm flame where she passed. To Sans, her run almost looked like dancing.

She reached the cage first easily. Frisk was visible by that point, her eyes staring wide at the woman of flame.

"Hush now." Sans heard Fuku say as he crossed the final bridge before the Ruins. "We're here to help."

"Hey, kid." Sans said, one arm on the cage and the other on his knee. "Whew ... just ... need to ... catch my ... breath."

"Sans!" Frisk's small hands grabbed the hand on the cage. "You came to save me!"

"Yeah, me and ... Fuku here." Sans said, nodding at the woman of blue flame. She bowed her head, which Frisk returned with a mixture of awe and gratitude.

Sans stood up. "All right; let's get you outta there before someone else shows up."

He looked at the cage for a few moments before his smile turned into a frown. "Uh, problem."

"What's wrong?" Fuku asked, looking herself. "Can you pick the ... oh."'

"Oh is right." Sans said. "There's no lock on this cage."

"Ah, but there is!" Fuku, Sans, and Frisk turned to see Mettaton step out from behind the trees. Whatever nervousness he'd felt before was long gone now, replaced with that Mettaton spirit Sans knew only too well. "And there they are! The first two contestants to make it to the prize!"

"That's right." Sans said. "We won; now hand it over."

"Ah, but it's not over. There are two of you, and only one prize. A fight to the death is just the thing to peak this fantastic episode!"

Fuku and Sans looked at each other.

"I can't fight her." Sans said, looking away and rubbing the back of his skull. "We're in this ... er ..."

"As a couple." Fuku said, grabbing Sans and pulling him against her.

"A couple?" Mettaton said, eyes wide. "Oh my! That's simply scandelous! Sweet innocent Fuku and Sans from a completely different dimension. That's simply delightful!"

Feeling a little embarrassed himself, despite enjoying Fuku's warmth against his bones, Sans put his arm around her and said, "That's right. So now we win, right? We can have the human child?"

"Well ... not quite." Mettaton said. "Don't get me wrong, darlings; I'd love to hand over the magic key, but there is a surprise contestant on the way!"

"Oh no!" Fuku said, flames dimming. "P-Papyrus?"

Sans said, "Alphys?"

Mettaton laughed and shook her head. "Oh, my, are you in for a surprise. Wage slave!"

An orange cat man Sans recognized only as 'Burgerpants' emerged from the woods, holding a camera that honestly looked too big for him. Legs trembling, he approached Mettaton.

"Ah, good." Mettaton said, clapping Burgerpants on the back. "How much longer until he arrives?"

"A-about a minute." Burgerpants said, sweating profusely despite the cold. "He looks real angry."

"Good; that means he's ready to put up a fight." Mettaton pointed to Sans and Fuku and said, "Get a good shot of our power couple! Their reaction will be rating's gold!"

"Exactly who is coming?" Sans asked, a hollow pit opening up in the empty space where most beings had a stomach. He could see a figure in the distance growing larger by the second … a BIG figure.

Mettaton lifted a microphone to his mouth. "Today, here in the Snowdin Fields, we will see our winning contestant couple Alternate Sans and the lovely Fuku Fire stand together against the Lord of the Underground, the Emperor who will lead us to the surface, and the Sultan of this shadowy Realm, the one and only ... KING ASGORE DREEMURR!"


	39. Chapter 38 - Temmie-ache

**Chapter 38**

 **Temmie-Ache**

Monsters gathered along the street, their various eyes wide in surprise at the sight of not one, but two humans walking through the streets of New Home led by Alphys, flanked by the Magnificent Sans and Papyrus, and followed by Undyne. Glen smiled and waved at the monsters. Some waved back, looking slightly dazed.

As they continued through the streets, Papyrus edged closer to Glen and asked, "You really think you can bring the barrier down?"

"You kidding? That barrier's goin' down." Glancing around at the crowd, Glen said in a louder voice, "And it's going down today."

Glen felt a cool hand touch her shoulder as murmurs ran through the crowds.

"Miss Glen," Undyne whispered, "I admire your optimism, but is it fair to get everyone's hopes up?"

"Well, if I can't get rid of the barrier," Glen said, "I know people who can. If there's no one on this planet who can do it, I'll just go to Vinta and get help from the Centers of Knowledge, and the people there will definitely have a solution. Take my word for it, we'll get that barrier down one way or the other. At most, it might take me a little extra time to nail down the teleport to Vinta; it's been awhile, and I might accidentally end up in Rinoa Lake ... again."

"Can ... can I go too?" Chara asked, looking up at Glen with wide eyes.

"You kidding?" Glen picked Chara up easily and let her ride on her shoulders. "I always wanted a companion. Friend of mine was crazy about having companions; half the fun of seeing the universe is bringing your friends along for the ride."

Papyrus raised an eyeridge at her. "You mean you coulda just teleported all this time?"

"Well ... there are risks. This is another universe, after all, and the little changes could cause complications." Perking up, Glen said, "But that won't stop me from trying ... if I can't bring the barrier down myself, that is."

Besides, she didn't add, Sans wanted me to see something, something that would offer a clue as to the location of the Inverse Harmonius fragment. Until she knew what that was, she was prepared to go through hundreds of other realities.

The Temmie Knights stood guard outside Dreemurr Castle as the procession drew near the gates. The small dog-like creatures wore shining armor complete with metal claws that looked capable of doing quite a bit of damage. They were stern-faced as Undyne approached them.

"At ease." Alphys barked. "We are here to see the queen."

"Understood. Proceed inside with your human captives."

"They aren't captives." Alphys paused and shook her head. "Can't believe I'm saying that."

The group moved into the castle. It looked much the same as it did in the other reality, at least to Glen; wide corridors, flaming sconces, and thick carpets. There was one difference, however: the paintings. Every wall had at least one, sometimes several artfully arranged. Some were still-lifes, others were pictures of monsters, but most of the paintings were landscapes of the surface. Wide sweeping plains, thick forests, arid deserts, and snowy tundras covered the walls, some so lifelike that they looked more like windows into other worlds.

"Wow." Glen said, looking at a fine painting of a small wooden bridge over a flowing stream of water. "Nice brushwork."

"Ah, yes; most of these are the work of the old king." Undyne said, adjusting her glasses. "He had quite the eye. Spent years wandering the surface before the war."

"Ah, right." Glen said, nodding. "I shoulda realized. Asgore's an artist in my reality too ... more of a sculptor than a painter, but that's differing realities for you."

Chara slumped over Glen's head, her hands hugging Glen's cheeks.

"There there, kid." Glen said, reaching up and teasing the little girl's hair. "I'm sure he's fine. Once we get the barrier down, we'll go get him."

"You know the king?" Papyrus said, giving the kid a curious look.

"Y-yes. He lives in the Ruins ... past that big door at the end of the Snowdin Ruins."

"The door ... wait, that's who I've been tradin' jokes with for the past three years?' Papyus rubbed the back of his skull, looking a little embarrassed. "Wow. I had no idea I was speaking to royalty."

They reached the chapel. The sight of the room with its wide sun windows and tall pillars brought with it memories of the last chapel Glen passed through.

The Temmie Knights posted there saluted Captain Alphys. "Captain!"

"At ease." Alphys said, giving them a quick salute. Turning to Glen and company, Alphys said, "All right, look; the queen sees you, she's gonna fling a trident through your chest. Just stay here while I try and explain things."

"I'll go too." Undyne said.

"Good." Alphys said as Undyne hurried to her side. "'Cause I ain't sure how I'm gonna break the news of two humans coming here willingly."

"Don't worry." Undyne said, "I'm sure together we can help her see the logic of giving Miss Glenda a chance."

"That's the spirit!" Alphys said with a grin, giving Undyne a light smack on her shapely backside.

Glen watched them depart; while she was no stranger to the antics of Alphys and Undyne, seeing the roles reversed was oddly amusing.

"I'm gonna head out too." Papyrus said, putting out his cigarette. "There's someone I'd like to have a quick word with, and I should probably talk with Rahnna too, let her know what's going on. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Who are you going to see?" Magnificent asked curiously. "Papyrus? Papyrus!'

Papyrus stepped around the corner. Magnificent hurried after him only to stop right at the corner.

"Dang it!" Magnificent said, clenching his blue-gloved fists.

"Gone again?" Glen asked, unable to keep the smile from her face.

"It's so weird; you'd think someone who sleeps on the job as much as he does wouldn't be able to move so fast." Magnificent shook his head and said, "Well, never you worry; the Magnificent Sans will remain here with you to ensure your safety!"

"Thank you, Magnificent." Glen said, Chara giggling. "I feel safer already."

Time passed. Perhaps it was Glen's eagerness to see the barrier, or simple anticipation of the meeting with Queen Toriel, but the minutes seemed to creep slowly by. The Temmie Knights stood at attention at the entrance and along regular intervals.

Glen coughed and said, "So, Magnificent; your brother's got Rahnna. You got anyone special in your life?"

"Well ... not really." Magnificent perked up a moment later. "But a good guard has no time for romantic entanglements! A good guard must remain completely focused!"

"Apparently Alphys didn't get the memo." is what Glen wanted to say, but she kept it to herself. No reason to make the little blueberry feel sad.

Glen turned her attention to Chara. Whatever question was in her mind died when she saw the child's frightened face.

"Hey." Glen said, kneeling down beside her. "What's wrong? You're shaking all over. Relax; no matter how this goes, I promise you won't be hurt."'

"I-it's them." Chara whispered, pointing at the Temmie Knights. "I ... I've seen them before."

Glen frowned at the Temmie Knights. While the armor was hardy, the claws were nothing to sniff at, and the silver helmets gave them a certain air befitting a palace guard, their faces, though stern, did not exactly inspire fear.

"Bah." Glen said, "Don't worry about them."

"It's not them." Chara whispered. "W-when I was in the ruins ... t-there was a t-temmie ... he ... he was scary."

"Scary?" Magnificent said, looking perplexed. "A scary temmie? I mean, yeah, they're pretty stern at times, but they don't mean any harm. Besides, they've taken an oath not to harm anyone ... not even humans. Isn't that right, Archibald?"

"That's right sir!" Said the temmie standing to the right of the passage that led into the palace. "The Temmie Knights have pledged to be protectors of the Underground. We only attack in the defense of another. The first duty of a Temmie ..."

Every Temmie in earshot shouted in perfect unison, "Is to protect and serve the Underground!"

Chara didn't seem relieved in the slightest. She hugged Glen's leg as though trying to hide.

"The Temmie in the Ruins ... he looked different." Chara said. "Frisk warned me about him, but I-"

"Frisk?" Glen said, alarmed. "You saw Frisk?"

"N-no," Chara said, "But I heard her. She talked to me when I was alone and scared ... helped me feel less scared."

"She would." Glen said, mentally sending thanks to the spirit of Frisk. "She warned you about the Temmie?"

"She said he was her friend, but something got in him. Something dark. His face was so scary!"

"Wait," Glen said, "Something dark in him? Was it dripping from his eyes and mouth like some kinda black sludge?"

She nodded. Someone let out a soft giggle moments later that made Chara's eyes widen. "He's here!"

Glen spun about; there were ten Temmie Knights in the room, with another four in both passages leading from the chapel. There were eighteen Temmie Knights, one of which was trouble.

"Magnificent." Glen said, "Go get Undyne."

"W-what's wrong?"

"I suggest you hurry." Glen said, eyes moving from Temmie Knight to Temmie Knight looking for signs of ichor. When Magnificent still didn't move, Glen shouted, "NOW!"

Magnificent took off running as fast as his short legs could carry him ... which was surprisingly fast, it turns out. He may have been near her Sans's size, but he was obviously in better shape ... whatever that meant to a skeleton anyway.

Alone and surrounded by Temmie Knights, Glen and Chara waited in silence.

"Frisk tell you anything else?" Glen asked, eyes still darting about.

"N-no. She said it used to be her brother, but ... but that he died."

The story of Monster Kidd and Frisk flashed through Glen's head. Monster Kidd took the form of a Temmie the same way Asriel took the form of Flowey, possibly due to the location their remains ended up. Given the nature of that universe, the way people seemed swapped, it wasn't unreasonable to assume that it was Chara and Asriel who joined souls in Glen's universe, and that Chara's spirit encountered Frisk in some way. The pieces were falling into place ... but not all of them. How did the ichor factor into it? How did it infect Frisk in one Universe, and the reborn Monster Kidd in this one?

"First things first." Glen said, "Come on out, whoever ... or whatever you are."

No Temmie stepped forward.

"Small surprise." Glen muttered. An idea suddenly hit her.

Coughing, Glen called out, "A Temmie Knight's first duty ..."

The Temmie Knights shouted, "is to Protect and serve the Underground!"

Glen froze; they were standing in the middle of the room, yet she could clearly hear the shouting was quieter to her left. Keeping one hand on Chara's shoulder, Glen again said, "A Temmie Knight's first duty ..."

"is to Protect and Serve the Underground!"

Moving toward the slight decrease in sound, she repeated again, "A Temmie Knight's first duty ..."

"is to Protect and Serve the Undergound!" Said all but the Temmie sitting at the pillar nearest the way out of the castle. The visor of the Temmie's helmet was lowered, covering their face.

Glen slowly moved closer despite Chara tugging at the leg of Glen's shorts. "Come on, now; I know it's you."

The Temmie didn't respond. Glen continued approaching, slowly reaching for the Temmie's helmet. Black goo was leaking through the slits in the visor as Glen's hand drew close.

Glen yanked the helmet and stepped back, only to gasp. The remaining eye of the Temmie behind the mask stared back at her in desperation, its lips completely sealed in the foul ichor that was slowly consuming the rest of it.

"Temmie ... Protect Underground ..." The poor creature said, its body already collapsing.

"My God." Glen said, horrified. "I'm sorry ... I'm so sorry ..."

The other Temmie Knights were drawing near. Glen held out an arm, shouting, "Stay back! The ichor's corrosive!"

A ball of blazing fire appeared above the infected Temmie. The afflicted creature had time to say, "Protect Underground." one more time before the fireball slammed down into it, consuming the ichor and turning the Temmie to ash in moments.

"Who did that?" Glen asked, glancing around at the other Temmies. "We might have been able to save-"

"Temmie Knight Raquel protected Underground by stopping herself." Said one of the Knights, sorrow in her voice. "The Temmie Knights will remember Raquel's sacrifice with honor!"

"Temmie Knights remember Raquel with honor!" The other Temmie Knights chanted ... but not all of them. Glen could tell the one near her left leg was silent.

Glen grabbed the Temmie and yanked off the helmet to reveal a monstrous face with a ravenous sharp-toothed mouth dripping with ichor and beady black eyes.

"HOI!" The horrible thing shouted before trying to take a bite out of Glen's shoulder. Glen gasped from the pain; while the teeth couldn't pierce the selenium-thread shirt, the creature had an incredibly strong jaw.

Glen shook it loose and threw it bodily across the room. It was on its feet in an instant, its sharp-toothed mouth twisted in an evil grin.

"Well, well, well!" The Dark Temmie, "You think your gonna be big hero! You think you gonna take down barrier and save monsters! Ha! Monsters gonna be made dead!"

The Temmie Knights moved in front of Glen, forming a small vibrating phalanx of sorts.

"Destroy the abomination!" One of the Temmies shouted, prompting the others to attack. They leapt forward, shining claws slashing at their twisted brethren. The Dark Temmie dodged and shot a burst of ichor into the face of the Temmie Knight. The Temmie Knight fell, screaming as the ichor seeped through the slits of his helmet.

"Long range attacks only!" Said one particularly strong-voiced Temmie. They leapt away from the Dark Temmie, a circle of fire swirling in the air above them. As one, the flying bursts of fire slammed into the Dark Temmie, creating a large circle of flame.

For a few moments, Glen was certain they'd killed the Dark Temmie. In a way, she felt sad; it was the spirit of the Monster Kidd, the same Kidd who just joined the town guard in her home dimension. She didn't know how to properly restore him, but she felt she should've done ... something.

A dark shape grew in the center of the flames. Before Glen could respond, the fire of the circle shot outward, catching many of the nearby Temmie Knights. Glen made a run for the Dark Temmie, only for an intense magic wave of energy to throw her back into one of the pillars.

"Glen!" Chara said, hurrying to her side. "Miss Glen, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll live." Glen grumbled as she rose to her feet. "Little pipsqueak's strong."

"Temmie Knights." The Dark Temmie laughed. "Stupid temmies! Will teach about special rule, Kill or be killed!"

The Dark Temmie sank its teeth into one of the Temmies, tearing through gaps in the armor as the Temmie Knights fought to bring the Dark Temmie down.

"Humans run!" Shouted one of the Temmie Knights. "We will do our best to defeat this beast. You must inform the Queen of the threat!"

"I want to help!" Glen said, but her resolve fall as Chara slipped her hand into Glen's. The little girl was terrified ... and besides, Glen had no weapons other than her fists. She certainly had no magic, and the stunt with the mechawyrm made her very skittish about using her Dreamer abilities.

"Then tell the queen!" The Temmie turned to join his friends in the assault. "And ... if this is to be our end ... remember us."

Sighing, Glen nodded and said, "I will. Good Luck."

"Thank you, but luck is not necessary." The Temmie ran forward, shouting, "A TEMMIE KNIGHT'S FIRST DUTY ..."

"IS TO PROTECT AND SERVE THE UNDERGROUND!" Shouted the remaining Temmies even as they fought for their lives.

Glen watched them for a moment before picking up Chara and running out of the chapel.


	40. Chapter 39 - The Spire

**Chapter 39**

 **The Spire**

The Precious Meadow was a beautiful, sun-drenched place, with tall golden grass that waved in the wind and exquisite trees with gleaming silver trunks so real that only their shine gave away their artificial nature. Even then, the delicate leaves seemingly shaped from tiny sheets of emerald bespoke of an artistry far greater than the comparatively clunky Brass Woods.

Shye and Asriel ran through the grass, the former without a care in the world. It was hard for Asriel not to follow along; seeing such a place made him want to run about, to enjoy the warmth of the sunlight and maybe take a nap under one of the beautiful trees.

Still, the young Dreemurr kept his head about him, his eyes watching for the continuing signs of Golemite's pursuit. The golem had a one-track mind and a remarkable endurance, so it didn't surprise Asriel in the least when he climbed a tree and found the golem's path continuing on as far as his eyes could make out.

He climbed down the tree to find Shye lounging on top of one of the silver tree's great roots, a butterfly perched on her knee. As he approached her, he realized the butterfly was artificial as well; its wings made of delicate bits of stained glass and carefully sculpted platinum.

He reached out to capture it between his paws for a closer look, but it flew away as Shye sat up.

"Any sign of him?" Shye asked, stretching before rising to her feet.

"Not yet." Asriel admitted. "Just more meadow."

"Oh well. I could run around here for days. It's just so relaxing." She turned to Asriel, a gleam in her eye. "Hey, you know what we should do? Follow that twisty stream. There's gotta be a brook or a lake somewhere where we could take a swim."

"I didn't exactly pack extra clothes." Asriel said, prompting Shye to laugh.

"You don't wear the clothes while you're swimming, silly." She told him. "It's fine; I go skinny-dipping with my brothers and sisters all the time. Mind you, the lake we swim in smells like metal and we have to watch our feet for rusty rivets, but it ain't like there's any of that here."

Asriel's felt his cheeks burn. "Um, I think we should keep going. Golemite might be in trouble."

"That big guy? Bah. Anything in his way's what's in trouble." Despite her words, Shye followed Asriel back into the field.

The sun gradually sank straight down into the horizon, only to be replaced by not one but two moons, one crescent-shaped and the other full. The Precious Meadow was no less spectacular at night. Hundreds of bulb-bottomed fireflies flew over the golden grass. They spotted a few smaller creatures as well, sleek-coated ferrets with coats of iron and bronze as soft as normal fur. They followed Asriel and Shye for a while, briefly poking their noses in Asriel's tools and pack before turning on Shye. She giggled as the little creatures climbed over her as well, looking in her pockets for shiny things.

"Shoo!" She tried to say, but the ferrous ferrets continued their relentless assault until she had to put her hands on her knees to stop herself from falling over. For their efforts, the industrious creatures found a half-eaten zapple and a handful of geargrapes, which they shamelessly ate in front of Asriel and a wheezing Shye.

"Maybe we should get some rest." Asriel said, grinning at her. "Maybe they won't be so active in the morning."

"Good idea." Shye said, still breathing heavily.

They fell asleep beside each other, several ferrets taking the opportunity to lie on them for warmth.

Asriel's dreams were troubled. He dreamt the meadow was on fire, and that he and Shye had to cross a wide lake to escape. Asriel made it first, but as he reached for Shye, green leaves sprouted from his arms and hands.

"Kill her!" Whispered Flowey's voice in his mind. "Push her under the water!"

To Asriel's horror, his hands moved on their own, shoving Shye into the water as the flames drew near the edge. The water was soon boiling hot. It stung his hands even as Shye struggled to climb out, but Asriel found himself unable to stop himself.

Shye's body eventually went limp and floated to the surface. as it floated away, the water went still; that was when Asriel saw his reflection ... Flowey's reflection.

"NO!" Asriel awoke with a start, prompting a small amount of chittering from the blanket of ferrous ferrets now resting on him. Shye was resting against his side, still asleep and dreaming about something pleasant from the pleased look on her face.

Sighing, Asriel sat back and tried to go back to sleep. High above the Precious Meadows, tiny lights twinkled on and off.

"Stars. They're stars."

Asriel turned his head to see the shadow girl sitting on a low branch not far from him.

She lay back against the tree, the glowing discs that were her eyes half-open as she softly sang, "Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky ..."

She turned her head to Asriel. "How much do you want to go home?"

"Excuse me?"

"How much are you willing to do to see Toriel and Asgore again? To see Frisk again? Just how far are you willing to take this?"

Asriel didn't respond. In truth, he simply didn't know what to say.

The shadow girl stood up and faced Asriel. "I carry part of the Everstar within me. Would you kill me to take it?"

"W-what?"

The shadow girl closed her eyes. Light spilled forth from her chest, coalescing into a glowing star nearly identical to the one on his own chest. He felt his shards respond to hers, making it clear to him that she wasn't bluffing.

"I have a piece of the Everstar." The shadow girl said. "It keeps me from fading the same way yours keeps you from becoming a flower again. If you really want to unite the lost shards, you will need mine."

"What about you?" Asriel asked. "What do you want?"

She closed her eyes. "What I want isn't possible. I lost that chance. I wish only to continue existing here, in the Deep."

"I'm sorry." Asriel said. "Um ... what happened?"

The shadow girl shook her head. "I did something stupid ... I had good intentions, but it didn't turn out well. Worse, I dragged my best friend in the world down with me."

"Is he here?"

The shadow girl looked at Asriel for a moment before letting out a giggle. "He's around."

She rose to her feet, staring off into the distance as though hearing something. Shaking her head, she said, "I gotta go."

"Wait!" Asriel said, sitting up as much as he could with the ferrous ferrets on his chest. "You know my name, but I don't know yours."

She looked at him. It was hard to make out with her skin being solid black, but after a few minutes he realized she was smiling

"Call me Starkid." She said before vanishing.

Asriel contemplated this for a few moments before lying back down beside Shye. Her question stuck with him, however; part of him was assuming that he'd have to fight the other holders of the Everstar shards. He assumed they'd be after him, or would be if he was near. What if they didn't care? What if they needed their shard, and wanted nothing more than to be left alone?

He didn't get to think about it long, however; the ferrets all seemed to wake up at the same moment. Their heads all swivelled in the same direction for a few moments. Asriel strained his ears and found he could hear something in the distance.

The ferrets scattered moments later, the sudden movement waking up Shye. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and asked, "What's going on?"

"Something spooked the ferrets." Asriel said, trying to identify the sound as it steadily grew louder. It was hard to describe, though it reminded hm a little of his mother's mixer; sort of a steady beating coupled with the high-pitched sound of a motor.

The wind was picking up now, the leaves of the trees making a tinkling sound as the brushed against each other. Asriel was on his feet now, trying to find the source of the noise.

"There!" He said. In the growing light of dawn, something tall and silver could be made out in the distance growing larger by the second. It was still hard to make out, but appeared to be glittering.

"Whoa!" Shye said, shielding her eyes and peering at the distant object. "What is that?"

Asriel could only shake his head as whatever it was grew closer and closer. It was a tower, a giant tower. What he mistook for glittering was actually hundreds of long thin metal plates that extended from the top of the silver cylinder, bent ninety degrees and ran the length of the construct before bending another ninety degrees before returning to the bottom of the silver cylinder. There were many levels of these, some spinning so fast that they were only a blur while others slowly circled around the construct.

Shye tugged at Asriel's arm. He tore his eyes from the spinning wonder to find Shye looking worried.

"Um ... I think it's heading this way." She said, taking a few steps from the tree. "Maybe we should ..."

"Yeah." Asriel said, glancing back at the construct. "Yeah, good idea!"

They ran away from the mass of spinning and shining metal, clambering over the roots of trees and sliding down hills. They needn't have been worried, however; the construct slowed to a halt not far from the tree where they rested. Asriel caught Shye when he realized this, and forced her to turn around. They watched together as the thin blades broke apart at various points along the length of the tower, bent the opposite direction, and dug into the ground. In a matter of moments, all the lower blades were anchoring the construct into the ground while the upper blades pressed against the cylinder, leaving only a few to slowly spin.

"It's a tower." Asriel said wonderingly.

"A flying tower?" Shye said skeptically. "What's it doing here?"

Asriel met her gaze with a smile. "Wanna find out?"

Her reluctance gave way in a matter of moments. "Race ya!"

They took off running for the tower, quickly passing the tree they rested beneath and continuing on until they reached one of the blades now dug into the ground. up close, it looked much more complicated, however; two posts as big around as Asriel and Shye combined extended from the end of the ramp into the ground below, framing a large black rubbery conveyor belt of sorts.

Their purpose became clear a few moments later. The ferrous ferrets had returned, seemingly carrying something. To Asriel's astonishment, it was the still forms of other ferrets. Some twitched as though trying and failing to move, while others simply didn't move at all as though broken.

It wasn't just ferrets either; more artificial animals were approaching; platinum-coated bunnies, gem-scaled lizards, Tall and graceful clockwork deer, and even a few of the crab-bots all lined up patiently to place some of their own on the conveyor belt.

"It's like some kind of mass burial." Asriel said, looking sad.

"Maybe." Shye said. Once the last of the animals had dropped off their dead or malfunctioning and departed, Shye hopped onto the conveyer himself.

"Shye!" Asriel said, standing at the end. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting inside the tower." She said, grinning at him as she jogged to stop herself from getting too far ahead of Asriel. "You comin' or are you just gonna wait out here?"

"But ..." Asriel stopped; some of the 'blades' in the distance were rising back up to join with their upper halves. He'd have to make a decision, and make it quick.

Sighing, Asriel hopped onto the conveyor belt. Shye beamed at him grabbed his hand, tugging him along down the conveyor belt while avoiding the bodies of the animals and insects.

The tower grew more magnificent as they grew close. The spinning blades obscured much of its surface, which was practically covered with glowing etchings of every color. The entire structure seemed to resonate with power. Every time the power pulsed, Shye and Asriel's fur would stand completely on end.

The conveyors ended in a great opening at the base of the tower. Inside was a maze of conveyor belts going every which way. Fortunately, there were some platforms with railings alongside the belts as well, giving Shye and Asriel a place to get off the conveyors.

They watched the various creatures get sorted for a few moments before moving on. The platforms circled upwards to a small circular chamber in the very center, though Asriel knew they couldn't even be close to the top of the tower. Shye and Asriel walked into the chamber, only for the doors to close around the room. Before they could react, the chamber shot into the air so fast it knocked the Bossun and the bunny-cat girl to the ground.

"Asriel!" Shye said, struggling to rise as the lift continued to shoot upward. "Maybe this was a mistake."

"Bit late for that now." He said. "Just ... hold on, okay? We made it this far, didn't we?"

With an extreme amound of effort, Asriel managed to rise to his feet. He immediately regretted it, however, upon the sight of the lights inside the tower flashing by at an alarming speed. They were going up, and fast.

He'd just made it over to Shye when the lift came to a halt. Unfortunately, at the speed they'd been going, Asriel and Shye continued going up, flying through a large hole in the top of the lift into a larger room above. Both of them cried out at the sight of the ceiling approaching fast, but their upward momentum only carried them about three feet from the ceiling before they started to fall.

Four segments of a massive circle of cushion-covered panels slid over the lift opening, catching Asriel and Shye as they fell. They sat there for a few moments, both dazed as their minds struggled to finish processing the trip.

Asriel pushed himself up, knees shaking a little. He went to help Shye only to find her already on her feet as well.

"That was fun!" She said, grinning. Asriel couldn't help but laugh. Shye's resemblance to Chara in that moment was uncanny.

Asriel started to reply when the sound of humming caught his ears. From the way her long ears twitched, Shye heard it too. She pointed up, head tilted to the side and a finger over her lips. Asriel nodded and glanced around the chamber a moment before pointing to the stairwell that led up and around the tower.

They hurried up the stairs as quietly as they could (a surprisingly simple feat for those with paws instead of feet), and found themselves in a room that reminded Asriel strongly of the Skyway Workshop. The whole room was workbenches of various sizes, piles of parts, and tools haphazardly scattered around.

At a workbench on the far said of the chamber, near another set of stairs leading further up the tower, a short figure sat on a stool and hummed to himself as he hunched over the workbench, clearing working on something small.

Feeling Shye's hands on his arm, Asriel turned and realized she was behind him, her eyes watching the figure warily.

Realizing he'd have to do the talking himself, Asriel coughed and said, "Excuse me, mister ..."

The figure turned, a wide smile on his face even as Asriel let out a gasp. The figure was a construct of wood and metal much as the creatures of the Precious Meadows, with ivory teeth, a metal face, and a gem-like blue eye, but the resemblance was just to uncanny to be coincidence.

"S-sans?"


	41. Chapter 40 - Tin men

**Chapter 40**

 **Tin Men**

The construct gave Asriel a puzzled look. "Huh? What're ya ..." A small muffled chime shot through the air. The figure pulled a watch out of his pocket and looked at it with his blue eye for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"Sorry, kid." He said, his voice identical to that of the pun-loving skeleton from the Underground. "Shift change."

He left the workbench and headed for the stairs at a leisurely pace. Asriel stared after him until Shye grabbed his arm.

"Asriel, look!" She said, pointing to the workbench. "It's one of the ferrets!"

Sure enough, one of the ferrous ferrets was on the workbench, one of its legs partially assembled.

"What do you think he was doing with it?" Shye asked. "And what was it you called him?"

"Sans." Asriel said, "But it can't be."

Before Shye could ask anymore questions, Asriel ran for the stairwell. It continued to the next floor; while functionally identical to the floor below, the higher floor was completely in order. Parts were kept in cabinets across the floor, workbenches were carefully arranged and tidy, and tools were kept in immaculate condition. Aside from cleanliness, the only major difference were the two chairs in the center of the room, one smaller than the other and raised so that the holes in the back of both chairs were perfectly aligned. . They resembled dentist chairs, each supported by a single metal post bolted to the floor and secured together via two long armrests that ran alongside both chairs.

One of the chairs was currently occupied by another artificial being, this one taller and lankier. As soon as the construct resembling Sans settled in the smaller chair and closed his eyes, something small and bright slowly floated through the hole in the back of the chair ... something that made the Everstar on Asriel's chest light up. It was a shard!

The shard passed into the taller construct, who immediately stood up and opened his eyes.

"Ahh!" The figure said, stretching. "What a good rest! Well, it's back to work for me!"

"Excuse me, mister ..." Asriel stopped. The fact that the second construct looked like Papyrus shouldn't have shocked him, but it did.

"Oh, hello there!" said the tall construct with Papyrus's massive-toothed smile. "My brother told me about you!"

"He did?" Asriel said, surprised.

"Well, he said you said, 'Excuse me, mister ...'. Seems like a habit of yours. Is that why you're here? We usually only fix physical problems, but I might be able to alter some of your wiring to-"

"Wait just a minute!" Asriel said, holding up a hand. "Papyrus and Sans went to the surface!"

Papyrus raised a metal eyebrow at Asriel. "I see. Well, I'm not certain of who you speak, but I wish them the best!"

Asriel rubbed his forehead. This was weird; really weird.

"Hi!" Shye said, making him look up. "I'm Shye, and this is my friend Asriel. We saw your tower and were curious."

"Curious? About our great work? Splendid! Simply splendid! There is so much to talk about, I scarcely know where to begin! Ah, but where are my manners?" The construct drew himself up and said, "I am the Great Archie Tect, and this lump of metal is my brother, Beget."

"I see." Shye said as Asriel struggled to keep up. "And what is this great work?"

"Why, the Precious Meadows, of course!" Archie snapped his fingers. The outer wall of the chamber slid down, revealing an awe-inspiring view of the Precious Meadows as far as Asriel could see.

Asriel and Shye approached the nearest opening and stared out at the field below them. It stretched to the horizon, the Brass woods only faintly visible at the far end. They were moving further away from the Brass Woods.

"Oh, wow!" Shye said, her eyes shining. "You really made all this?"

"Yes, I did." Archie paused before adding, "With some help from my brother. A little."

"It's amazing." Asriel said.

"Indeed!" Archie replied, clearly pleased with the praise. "All carefully constructed here, in the safety of Serenity Spire."

"Wow." Shye said, tail wagging slightly. "I wish I lived in a big pretty tower?"

Archie's smile faded. "Well ... you get used to it. But enough about me ... for the moment, anyway. What brings you two here?"

"Um ... well," Asriel mumbled, only for Shye to shove him aside.

"Your crab robots are eating my father's trees!" She said, her earlier wonder now replaced with indignance.

"Crab robots? Oh, Crittaceans? I've already fixed that!" Sighing, Archie said, "I designed them to build homes out of scrap. Unfortunately, when some of them got lost in your Brass Woods, they misidentified it all as being scrap."

"Scrap?!" Shye said indignantly.

"Well, you can hardly blame them. I mean, if you lived in the Precious Meadow and found yourself in the Brass Woods, wouldn't you think it was a bunch of scrap?"

"Hey!" Shye said, crossing her arms. "I happen to like the Brass Woods! I've lived there all my life!"

"And yet now you're here." Archie said, a smug look on his face.

Shye looked like she wanted to respond to that, but ended up just looking sulky.

"Besides," Archie continued, "I've already fixed it. I try not to bog our creations down with too many imperatives; life should make its own way. Still, we are trying to create an ecosystem here with focuses on working together, not tearing each other apart, so I gave them a direct imperative not to interfere with the Brass Woods unless someone was in need of assistance."

"Oh yeah?" Shye said, standing on the tips of her paws to try and look Archie in the eyes. "And what about Glencove? They completely trashed the place!"

"Completely trashed? Young lady, are you insinuating that I deliberately created machines to hurt people!" Archie grew more incensed with every word, to the point where his eyes were glowing.

Asriel quickly stepped between the two. "Mister Archie, do you know what happened in Glencove?"

"Glencove would be the city nearest the border?" Archie scratched his metal chin when Asriel nodded in reply. "Well, tell you what; why don't we ask them?"

"Ask ... what, you have the survivors here?"

"Indeed! The Crittaceans brought them here after the incident. While we are not responsible, I hate to see people lose their homes, and have offered to help them rebuild their city here in the Precious Meadows."

"You ... you'd do that?" Shye said, sounding surprised. "Let them build here, in your creation?"

"Of course! The Great Archie loves to help people! We've helped dozens of wanderers settle around here, and Glencove will hardly be the last."

No one returned from beyond the Brass Woods. That's what Mayor Mayor said; at the time it seemed ominous; now, however, it was clear the reason wasn't from violence; they simply chose to stay.

"Mister Tect." Asriel began, only for Archie to say, "Please, young goat-boy, feel free to call me Archie."

"Archie, one of the crittaceans grabbed my friend's hat. We lost him when he chased after it; could you help us find him?"

"Your friend," Archie said, eyes narrowing. "Would he happen to be a big stone person?"

Asriel's eyes widened. "Yeah! That's him! We call him Golemite!"

"Yes, we have picked ... him ... up. He did quite a number on that crittacean."

"Oh ... I'm sorry." Asriel said.

"No need to apologize, young Asriel. You did nothing wrong. Your friend, however, was most unrepentant." Crossing his arms, Archie sniffed. "I almost didn't assist him."

"Assist?" Asriel said, exchanging a worried look with Skye. "What happened?"

"Well, when he damaged the first crittacean unit, the others swarmed him. They use a fairly ingenious combination of scent detection, stream-flux scanners, and thaumic variance analyzers to determine threats to the-"

"Archie, he's my friend! Please, tell me what happened?"

Looking a little embarrassed, Archie said, "Well ... they kind of swarmed him. By the time I got there, he was in a bad way ... but don't worry! The Great Archie Tect is both kind and forgiving, and I have successfully repaired your friend to an even better state than he was originally!"

Asriel breathed a sigh of relief, but Shye put her hand on his shoulder, as though to signify that trouble still lay ahead. "You improved him?"

"Oh, yes." Archie motioned for them to follow. "Improved range of movement, more efficient power usage, even improved strength. I'd say it's an overall improvement. mind you, I've nothing but respect for whoever created him."

"But ... but how can you fix him?" Asriel asked. "Normally when he gets chipped, he has to call a stoneworker."

"Allow me to show you."

Asriel hoped that they were going to wherever Golemite was, but Archie simply led them to one of the workbenches.

"You see," He said, tapping a long pneumatic delivery tube. "While we're hoping to make this place self-sustaining, at the moment our creations do have a tendency to break down over time. Sometimes it's simply early models, sometimes there's an accident ... sometimes it's an eight-ton golem slamming a massive foot into their thorax."

A small capsule shot from the tube. Archie caught it with ease and upended it on the table to reveal another ferrous ferret.

His hand worked so fast they were almost a blur; removing metal fur-covered panels, replacing broken parts, soldering connections, and tightening miniscule screws. "Fortunately, we've put an imperative into every creature to save their damaged brethern and bring them to Serenity Spire when it lands nearby. That way, we can repair, replace, or rebuild as necessary. It's delicate work; by comparison, repairing you friend was quite simple."

Archie lifted his hands moments before the ferrous ferret returned to life. It sniffed around at them for a moment before letting out a curious chittering noise.

Archie caught the ferret easily and slipped him back in the capsule. "Once fixed, we simply set them loose again the next time we set down.

"Aww ... poor thing!" Shye said.

"Not to worry." Archie said. "It's a stasis capsule; it will simply sleep until released. The Great Archie Tect could not bear to cause emotional harm to any of my creations, after all."

"Your friend, while certainly an unusual construct, was built much the same principles. Mind you, he's lucky that Beget is a creative genius; he had to improvise quite a few parts, especially since we could only recover about sixty percent of Golemite's original mass-"

"What?!" Asriel clamped his paws over his mouth as Archie gave him a stern look. "Sorry; I just ... they hurt him that much?"

"Actually, most of the damage came from a high-velocity impact with one of the trees. The problem ... well, it's the crabs again. They use whatever materials are lying around, and frankly quite a bit of your friend was all over the place. They had almost half of him in the canyon before we got to him. Fortunately, whoever constructed Golemite made him quite hardy, he'll be fine, though I have to warn you, there are a few differences."

"Differences?" Asriel asked, frowning.

Archie sighed again and rubbed his metal temples. "My brother has an ... odd sense of humor, and I'm afraid he likes nothing more than to inflict it on people he views as bullying his creations. I'm afraid your friend has fallen victim to that attitude."

"What did he do?" Asriel asked, eyeing the tin man warily.

Archie rose to his feet and motioned for Asriel and Shye to follow him. He led them down into the next floor up, this one filled with large pill-shaped pods.

"These are for the larger of our constructs." Archie said, gazing around the room fondly.

Sure enough, Asriel peeked through the pods as they passed and saw giant bears of bronze, tigers with ebony stripes, gilded deer with crystalline antlers. There were more, however; giant ladybugs with translucent red shells, bunnies as big as beach balls with ears so large they probably allowed it to glide in the air, goggle-eyed creatures with shaggy coats and legs that looked like giant springs, and even a great silvery dolphin with large colorful fins.

"Ah, my dreas." Archie said, putting a hand on the pod with the dolphin-like creature. "Amazing, isn't she? Smart, too. She's a flyer, and a fixer ... at least, she will be if I ever get the time to finish her. Imagine it; these beauties flying through the Precious Meadows on the breeze like tropical fish no longer constrained by the ocean."

"I wanna ride!" Shye said, eyes alight with delight.

"Ride? Ride?!" Archie looked as though his feeling offended was intercepted by contemplation of the idea. "Hmm. they are quite strong and undoubtedly fast. Perhaps, if they were willing ... yes, it could be quite amusing to fly with a dreas."

Shaking his head, Archie continued through the pods until he came to one with its viewing window closed.

"Ah, here he is." Archie said after peeking through the door. "Well, in a matter of speaking."

Asriel's jaw dropped as Archie opened the door. His mind had already concocted several ideas of what might have become of his friend, but what floated in the amber liquid of the pod was not one of them

Shye started giggling. Asriel glared at her, but she apparently couldn't stop.

"Golemite." She said between giggles. "More like Golemette."

Shye's observation was accurate; gone were the squared off blocks of stone, the brick-like feet, the crude cylinder of a head with two glowing eyes. The once blocky and massive body was now tall, slim, muscular, and very female. His ... or rather, her eyes were open just enough to let a small mount of yellow light out, the only part of Golemite that was still familiar.

The stone had been expertly sculpted and reinforced with silver and gold etchings that looked like tattoos against Golemite's pale gray 'skin'. She had golden hair, clearly made of using the same process as that which created the realistic metal fur of the ferrous ferrets. The long mane issuing from her head floated around her, bits of it moving along with currents of the amber liquid.

Her face showed the most work, however; gold eyebrows and eyelashes, a clearly defined and stunningly beautiful face, and the ability to physically emote. Asriel learned that last one when Golemite's eyes flashed open a moment later, her mouth opened immediately in a yell, her stone fast twisting with anger.

"Right, right." Archie said, putting his hand on the side of the pod. The Amber liquid drained in moments. Golemite raised one hand to smash through the glass, but the pod was already pulling away from her.

"Hmpf." She said in a slightly high-pitched voice, her stunning face looking annoyed. "Good riddance. Don't know how I ended up in there anyway."

"Um ... are you okay?' Asriel asked, pointedly looking at Golemite's face. While her body lacked the exact anatomical details that would require clothing, it was nevertheless female enough to make him feel embarrassed.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, still shaking off the amber liquid. "Just a bit gooey at the moment. You?"

"Huh? Oh, we're fine." Asriel said, trying to ignore Shye's continued giggling. "Um, Archie? Do you have a towel or something?"

"Certainly." Archie scowled. "Unless that lazy-bolts forgot to put them in the wash again. I will return directly."

"Some clothes might be a good idea too." Shye said, still grinning.

"Yeah." Golemite said, rubbing her shoulder. "My old rags are probably ripped to shreds. Damn crab-bots; bastards ambushed me, took me by surprise. Before I knew it, dey had me surrounded, and ... and ..."

Asriel waited patiently, deciding to purposely forget that according to Archie, Golemite had run into a tree.

Golemite sighed and shook her head. "And I can't remember. Next thing, I know, I was here. Where are we anyway?"

"Serenity Spire." Asriel told him. "Archie ... that metal guy, he and his brother built this area. They made all the creatures too."

"Ah, and dey fixed me up, huh? Dat was nice of them." Snorting, Golemite added, "Mind, their crab-bots were da ones who got me injured in da first place. What is so funny?"

That last question was directed to Shye, who was giggling again. She shook her head. "Nothing!"

"I got somethin' on my face, or what?"

"No, nothing."

"Good."

"Lookin' pretty good actually."

Golemite's eyes narrowed, her new face showing a look of suspicion. Before she could ask anything, however, Archie appeared in the stairwell with a towel and a bundle of clothes.

"Here you go, friend." Archie said. "And my I say, I'm positively ecstatic to see you fully recovered."

"Thanks you, I hear." Golemite said, giving the metal man a nod as she took the towel.

Archie waved it off. "The Great Archie is glad to assist! Though, to be perfectly honest, you should really thank my brother, Beget. He's the one who fixed you up."

"Yeah, about dat." Golemite said, "I gotta say, I feel great. Haven't felt this good since I was in da Underground. You even fixed my sticky knee."

She lifted a shapely muscular leg and flexed it a few times to demonstrate.

"Well, we aim to please." Archie said. "Though, I must confess, I was a little worried. From your friend's reaction, I thought you might be a bit ... unhappy."

"Unhappy? Me?" Golemite chuckled as she stepped into her overalls. "Nah, I'm great. Heck, these even feel like they fit better. You do a lot of sewin', yeah?"

"Something like that." Archie said.

Golemite lifted up a black shirt. "Hey, dis ain't mine."

"Ah, that's a gift." Archie said, "Special nanofiber fabric. Should stand up to a lot of abuse."

"I dunno." Golemite said, giving it an odd look. "I never really messed with shirts before. Don't really need one."

"Didn't have cleavage before." Shye said with another giggle.

Golemite frowned at her. "I'll have you know I can cleave through a steel girder wit one hand. What's dat got to do wit shirts?"

Shye burst into giggles again. Rolling her eyes, Golemite said, "Still, it's a nice shirt; you musta went to some trouble to make it, so what the hey."

"Well," Archie said, clapping his metal hands together as Golemite slipped the shirt over her head. "My brother and I have been all sorts of helpful today. First with Glencove and again with you delightful people! I must ask, though, what is it that has brought you this far?"

Looking at his friends, Asriel said, "You mind if we have a seat? This might take awhile."


	42. Chapter 41 - Sudden Death

**Chapter 41**

 **Sudden Death**

Asgore's approach was frightening; though distant, he was growing larger by the second. He'd be there in a a few minutes, if that. Sans had to think of a strategy fast; fortunately, he had information that the people of that Universe were not privy too.

Brushing past Mettaton, Sans ran to the Ruins door and banged on it with both fists.

"Toriel!" He shouted, "Toriel, I know you're in there!"

Fuku was beside him in an instant, a look of shock on her delicate features. "Toriel? You mean Queen Toriel? She's in the Ruins?"

"Yeah, she went there after leaving Asgore." Glancing at the caped terror drawing nearer by the second, he added, "Or maybe she just wanted to run away from that."

"Oooh! Did you hear that, viewers?" Mettaton said, his voice screechingly loud in what passed for Sans's ear. "The challengers believe the mad queen is in the Ruins, and are attempting to gain her assistance! Oho, stay glued to those tellies, folks; this fight could become epic!"

Sans gave up on the traditional approach. He motioned to Frisk's cage, only to find his telekinesis still not working.

"Mettaton!" He said angrily.

"I'm sorry, Sans, but the rules ..."

"Are you kidding?" He stopped, quickly changing tactics. "Think about it; this is your main event, the big showstopper, the thing you're gonna be famous four covering. Do you really want it to be constrained by a bunch of boring rules, or do you want something to make your fans roar with excitement?"

"Yes! Yes! Oh, Yes!" Mettaton said, excitement building to a fever pitch within the robot. "You're absolutely right, darling! This fight will have no rules! Anything could happen!"'

"Good." Sans said, feeling his telekinesis responding again. "Then grab your kitty and get ready to run!"

"You got it, darling! Oh, Buuuurgerpants!"

Sans levitated Frisk's cage near the door to the Ruins while Mettaton continued torturing the unlucky cat man.

"Okay, kid." Sans said, "Gonna need you to lie down. We don't got time for finesse, and I don't wanna clip you by mistake."

"Clip her?" Fuku asked. "With what?"

Sans raised a hand, summoning a gaster blaster. Fuku and Burgerpants gasped as Mettaton's smile went even wider.

"Oh me, oy my, look at that blue eye!" Mettaton said, "Our friend Sansy's just full of surprises!"

"Yeah, well ... I'll send Gaster your compliments."

"Who's Gast-"

Sans brought his hand down. A blast of raw magical energy shot from the gaster blaster's mouth and reduced the Ruins door to ashes. The angle of the blast also disintegrated the top of Frisk's cage, freeing the little human. She ran to Sans and gave him a hug.

Rubbing the kid's hair, Sans glanced back at Asgore. He was very close now, a minute away, tops.

"All right, we gotta get movin'" He said, motioning for her and Fuku to take the lead. "It's too open out here!"

He raised his hand at the remnants of the cage as they passed. Once everyone was inside (Mettaton riding on the unlucky Burgerpants's back), he slammed the cage into the opening made by his Gaster Blaster. It wouldn't hold Asgore for long, but Sans would take every second he could get.

They raced down the corridor's twists and turns until they reached a staircase leading up. Before anyone could even set foot on the staircase, however, a loud crash resounded through the tunnel behind them.

"Oh, no!" Mettaton said gleefully. "Looks like King Bad News is on the way!"

Fuku glanced at Sans as they continued to flee. "You have a plan, right?"

"Yeah." He told her, "Get as much distance between us and the King."

"And?"

"Uh, haven't thought that far ahead yet."

Fuku's eyes widened. "But ... can't you just open a shortcut?"

"Sorry." He said, "I'm a little to distracted; even if I could open up a shortcut, there's no guarantee I could get everyone ... or that we'd end up in the same place. The last thing we need right now is to get split up."

The stairs ended in what appeared to be someone's house. A quick glance around the main room showed three doors, one to a long hallway, on leading outside to a small courtyard with a tree surrounded by red leaves and the other to a living room with a roaring fireplace and an empty armchair. There were dark smudges and burn marks everywhere, most showing some signs that someone attempted to clean or repair them.

"Oh my!" Mettaton said, forcing Burgerpants to turn around and film him. "A rather nice, if slightly singed home! Could this be the residence of Queen Toriel? What secrets will we find here?"

Asgore's trident smashed through the railing of the banister, the three-pronged weapon stabbing the air between Sans and Fuku. Fuku and Frisk backed into the living room as Asgore swept the weapon from side to side, sending bits of the railing flying in all directions as he attempted to hit something.

Sans backed out of range of Asgore's trident, now separated from Fuku and Frisk. Asgore's massive claw slammed through the remains of the stairwell railing. His blood-red eyes met Sans, a look of wanton blood lust that rivaled that of the possessed Frisk of Sans's home reality.

Whatever anger was there, however, was not directed specifically toward Sans. One look at the comparatively tiny skeleton warranted only a snort from the King of the Underground before he turned his sights on Fuku and Frisk.

The King let out a growl. "Give the human to me."

Frisk hid behind Fuku. For her part, Fuku was putting on a brave face, but even a fire elemental can be hurt by fire magic if it is strong enough.

"I'll not ask again." The King said, taking a step toward her.

"Hey, Fluffybuns!"

Asgore stopped dead in his tracks. Slowly, he turned back toward Sans, who realized that it was in fact he who had just shouted that. He wasn't even sure why he settled on fluffybuns; it was just a little fact Gerson tossed his way a long time ago, something about a small gaff at a royal function. He just needed to get Asgore away from Fuku and Frisk.

"You dare insult me, you impudent bone pile?" Asgore said in a low dangerous voice.

Sans was struck with a moment of panic ... but only a moment. The next moment, something clicked inside him. It wasn't that this universe was totally bad; Fuku and Frisk were by themselves proof of that. Fuku herself had told Sans that things in the Underground had been okay before Asgore lost his child. The death of Asriel had hit Sans's Underground too, but Sans's Asgore was a kind-hearted soul who dressed as Santa and gave out presents at Christmas. He was the sort of monarch who always had time for a cup of tea, even after he lost his children and his wife; he shouldered the tragedy himself, and afterward did his best to help his people.

When faced with the same loss, this Asgore turned his grief on his people. He became a tyrannical overlord, ruling his people through terror and fear. He wasn't interested in freeing his people; he wanted revenge. he wanted to overthrow the remains of the humanity and make them suffer, and when he couldn't reach them, he made the monsters who looked to him for leadership suffer instead. Suffering begets suffering; because of those choices, Papyrus was a murderer, NegaSans's apathy reached a point where he stood by and watched, and half the kingdom was rising up to overthrow him.

"Yeah, I am. You goat a problem with that, big guy?"

Asgore's nostril's flared. He brought his trident down, but Sans easily leapt over it and ran up the shaft towards Asgore. Before the King could even react, Sans leapt from the trident shaft and delivered a swift slipper-footed kick right to Asgore's face.

Asgore stumbled back over the edge of the stairwell and fell to the lower landing with an angry roar. He rose to his feet and found himself staring at a Gaster Blaster.

Eyes wide, he forced the skull aside moments before it released an energy blast that narrowly caught Burgerpants.

"Whoa! Hey, Asgore, baby, easy on the camera man!" Mettaton said as Fuku and Frisk hurried over to Sans.

"Out the front door!" Sans said, already backing away from the staircase as Asgore clambered toward them.

Fuku didn't need to be told twice. She picked up Frisk (fortunately, magical flame only burns when fueled with intent) and hurried past Sans as he spread his arms above his head, spinning white bones appearing between his hands.

The first caught Asgore right through his hand when the king attempted to reclaim his trident. Sans let the others fly as the King roared at the injury. The king thrust out his good hand, sending out a wave of fire that incinerated the bones and sent Sans running through the front door as well.

They fought on the run, Fuku and Frisk ahead of Sans as he shot hundreds of bones at Asgore. Most bounced off Asgore's gold-etched black armor, but a few managed to dig in between plates or on exposed portions of skin. One skimmed the side of Asgore's face, leaving a long, deep scratch along his cheek bone.

Gaster Blaster beams tore through the stone floor of the cavern. Asgore must've been aware of their strength, as he took care not to let a single beam touch him, even abandoning his trident to get blasted into metal fragments at one point.

"You're only delaying the inevitable!" Asgore shouted as Sans, Fuku, and Frisk ran into a room with pillars and multi-colored switches. Fortunately, the trap seemed to be set on the doorway leading to Toriel's house, allowing them to run past without messing with anything. That was good; Asgore's aim was lousy, but the blasts of fire were strong enough to reduce any pillar they hit into a pile of rubble. Sans's aim wasn't much better, though this worked in his favor when Asgore trod on several bones that hit the ground, their other side tearing through the unarmored pads of Asgore's feet. The bones splintered as he tried to pull his foot away, making the massive Bossun stop and pull out the bone shards or try to run on them. He opted to remove them, giving Sans, Frisk, and Fuku a chance to get some breathing room.

They passed through a few rooms, fortunately, finding nothing more threatening than a few froggits, all of whom quickly hopped quickly away whenever Asgore let out another roar.

"So," Fuku asked, "Any plan yet?"

"Working on it." Sans said moments before the ground gave from under him. He fell with a loud shout, only to land face first in a massive pile of red leaves.

"Sans!" Frisk shouted, her and Fuku's frightened faces visible from the hole in the floor for a few moments before the hole sealed itself.

"I'm fine." Sans paused to shake the leaves out of his skull before taking in the sight of what was now his ceiling; the stone he'd fallen through was thin, but there was a definite path of thick stone.

"I see the safe path!" He called out. "Two steps back from where I fell, turn left!"

Small bits of stone fell as she presumably moved to the location in question. "Okay!"

"Take about ..." Sans paused, considering how big Fuku's steps might be. "Four steps forward then turn left!"

"Sans, he's getting closer!" Fuku said, fear in her voice.

"Don't think about him! Four steps then left!"

It seemed absurdly slow, but after a few more instructions, Sans saw the ceiling return to uniform thickness. "All right, you're clear! I'll see if there's a way up."

Sans paused, an idea forming in his head. "Hang on; don't move."

"What?"

Sans moved to the other side of the room and summoned a wall of Gaster Blasters. "Just stand where you are for a few seconds; make sure he can see you."

"R-right."

"Don't worry." Sans found himself adding. "I won't let him hurt you, Fuku ... either of you. Trust me."

"O-okay." Fuku said.

Sans waited until he heard the sound of claws scratching against stone. He didn't have to wait very long.

"Give me the Human!" Asgore roared, only slightly muffled by the floor.

"Come and get her!" Fuku said, her voice surprisingly steady.

It happened like slow-motion; two pounding footsteps, then suddenly the massive form of Asgore was falling through the trapped floor. He managed to land on his feet, only to realize too late what was waiting for him.

The Gaster Blasters released as one, flooding the far side of the room with their white light. When the light faded, Asgore lay on the ground, his armor rend and most of the fur gone from his exposed skin, revealing horrible burns.

"Long live the king." He murmured before shaking his head and hurrying through a small doorway on his side of the room.

Fuku and Frisk waited nervously at the top of the stairs.

"Got 'im." Sans said with a grin. In truth, he felt a little sick, though whether it was from regicide or overuse of magic, he wasn't sure.

His discomfort faded, however, when Fuku and Frisk threw their arms around him.

He was stunned for a moment before simply taking it in stride.

"All right." He said, hugging them back. "We're gonna be all right. You'll see. Now come on; I'd like to get a little more distance between us before trying to use a shortcut.

They slowly made it across the room,

"AMAZING!"

Sans groaned as Mettaton and Burgerpants came through the far doorway.

"Watch the ground!" Sans called out, "It gives-"

Burgerpants fell through the floor with a yelp.

Sighing, Sans said, "Nevermind."

Mettaton, however seemed to have no trouble navigating the hidden maze. Approaching Sans, Fuku, and Frisk, he said, "What a performance! What a thrilling fight! I have to say, this has been by far the most exciting premiere I've ever had, and it's all thanks to today's winners, Sans the Skeleton and his main squeeze, Fuku Fire!"

Fake applause sounded. Fuku's cheeks went pink, but Sans just pulled his arm a little tighter around her mid-section.

"With the defeat of Asgore and the human child in your possession,"Mettaton said, one of his second set of hands holding an additional microphone out for Sans and Fuku, "Tell us, Sans; what do you plan to do now?"

Sans glanced at Fuku before saying, "Well, Mettaton, quite frankly I'm gonna make an inter-dimensional portal to another universe and get the hell outta this one ... but I don't mean to go alone. I'll take anyone ready to leave this place with me."

"Oh, my!" Mettaton said, "Freedom from the tyrant and the barrier all in one day? Darling, you three are gonna be heroes of the Under-"

Mettaton jerked forward, one arm twitching. His eyes widened as his body jerked again, this time four claws sticking out of the front of his chest plate.

Another massive claw grabbed the robot's head and tore it from the rest of the body, the claw embedded in the chest clenching around the floating power core in Mettaton's translucent stomach area. The head skidded over to Frisk's feet, coughed once, and whispered, "T-the show ... must ... go ..." before falling inert.

Horribly burned and missing most of his fur, Asgore smashed the rest of Mettaton into pieces. His anger was, at the moment, overpowering his reason, and he continued to smash the robot until nothing larger than a paperclip remained.

At least, that's what Sans surmised from the continued sound of smashing coming from behind them. He, Fuku, and Frisk took off running when it became apparenty Asgore was momentarily distracted. Frisk was still carrying Mettaton's head, likely the only piece big enough to salvage; Sans just hoped that it held some portion of whatever soul Mettaton had.

Soon, however, they heard the sound of Asgore's pursuit ... and this time, he was moving with the speed of the enraged.

Fortunately, Sans had an idea. Three Gaster Blasters appeared in front of them. Fuku and Frisk shrank back from them until they saw Sans leap on top of one.

"C'mon!" Sans said, grabbing the horns on the side of the Gaster Blaster's head like handles. "Let's go!"

Frisk and Fuku exchanged a quick glance before jumping on to their respective Gaster Blasters. Sans could feel it draining away his magic, but he knew he wouldn't need them for long. Besides, he'd always wanted to do this.

The Gaster Blasters shot through the Ruins in a perfect line, swerving around corners and pillars and gliding over traps and puzzles. Sans could still hear Asgore behind them, but the sound of his pursuit was definitely getting a little fainter.

Fuku pulled along side him, doubtlessly channeling some of her own magic to give hers some extra speed.

"Sans!" She shouted. "How long can you keep this up?"

"As long as I need to." He called back, though in truth, he could feel fatigue mounting within him. He'd already used so much magic, and what they were doing now was eating away the last reserves of strength much faster than he anticipated.

Fuku must've realized this too. She channelled more of her magic into all three constructs. Sans started to protest, but she anticipated that too.

"If I stop, you have to stop too." She called out.

Sighing, Sans said, "All right; the house is pretty close. We'll go on foot from there."

"We'd better."

Sans looked at her in surprise only to see a teasing smile on her face. Chuckling, he smiled back at her. It was nice to know someone was thinking of him.

He was true to his word; once they neared the doorway, Sans slowed the Gaster Blasters and gave Fuku and Frisk a chance to climb off before dismissing them.

The moment he touched the ground, the world seemed to sway around him.

"Whoa!" He said, nearly falling before Fuku caught him.

She clucked whatever flame people used for tongues at him. "I know we're still in danger, but pushing yourself to the breaking point isn't going to help anyone, Sans."

"Sorry, Mom."

Fuku opened her mouth to scold him, but froze as he gave her another magic kiss on the cheek. Her flames went pink as Frisk giggled.

"How about you, kid?" Sans said, putting a kind hand on Frisk's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah." She said, "Just ... just a little scared."

"Yeah, me too. Look, we get back to the Snowdin Woods, and I'll try and shortcut us back to New Home."

"Are you sure

"Are you okay?" Frisk asked, her little face worried.

"Yeah." Sans said, the sudden vertigo passing. "Just a bit tired. This whole mess as seriously cut into my nap time."

He paused, considering for a moment just how long it had been since he'd gotten any rest. Other than the nap back in the lift near the core, there was nothing.

Shaking his head, he said, "Plenty of time to rest when we're somewhere safe. Let's go."

They moved toward the stairwell that led to the tunnel beneath the house, only for a blast of fire to sweep across the carpet in front of them.

"Go? So soon? But you only just got here." Said a soft voice.

For a long moment, Sans thought Asgore had already caught up with them. While the figure standing in the hallway to the right of the main entrance had horns and white fur, it was also clearly a she. her robe, while clearly having seen better days, still bore the Delta Rune. There was still some elegance in the way she moved, and a certain beauty about her, offset by red eyes that seemed to open just a little too wide.

There was something faintly familiar about her, something from a timeline long since gone, but it wasn't her appearance as much as her voice that caught his memory. He never had a name for his joke-loving friend behind the door before, but now he knew she was Toriel, former Queen of the Underground.

"Y-your Majesty!" Fuku said, quickly kneeling before the tall bossun woman. Sans quickly followed, but Toriel wasn't looking at them; she was looking at Frisk.

"Child." She said, her tone unsettlingly quiet. To Sans's surprise, she knelt down and pulled the child into her embrace ... an embrace that Frisk returned.

"You ... you came back." Toriel said. "After what I said ... after what I did ... I thought I'd driven you away forever."

"I-I didn't mean to make you sad." Frisk said.

"I know, child, I know." Toriel lowered her head, tears in her eyes. "And ... and if you still want a terrible mother like me ... I would do my best to make our lives here as wonderful as I can!"

"Mom!" Frisk said before breaking into tears and hugging the Bossun woman.

Sans felt Fuku's hand take hold of his. He gave it a gentle squeeze; after everything else he'd seen, the sight of Toriel and Frisk's embrace filled him with something he'd found precious little of during his journey; hope.

Unfortunately, the sound of crashing far too close for comfort would cut the moment short.

"Queen Toriel," Sans said, "King Asgore is on his way right now. We managed to slow him down, but he is seriously pissed, and-"

"Asgore? Asgore is here too?" Toriel's face brightened. "He's come back!"

"Mom!" Frisk said, trying to pull Toriel back, only for the Bossun's hand to slip from her grasp.

Toriel stepped out of the house just as Asgore appeared at the far side of the cavern.

"Asgore!" Toriel said, arms outstretched. "You've come back! You've come back for me!"

Frisk, Sans, and Fuku all made a grab for the Queen, but she was too fast; swiftly running across the courtyard toward her husband.

For a moment, Sans hoped that maybe the sight of the Queen would change things. Maybe seeing his wife would bring something of what Sans knew as Asgore would awaken, just as he'd seen bits of his friends in Papyrus, Grillby, and Alphys. Maybe Asgore had a chance for redemption.

That hope died as Asgore slammed one massive fist against Toriel's chest, sending her flying across the clearing and crashing against the side of the tree only to fall to the ground in a heap.

"MOM!" Frisk said, rushing forward only for Sans and Fuku to catch her.

Asgore stepped around the body of his former wife, what remained of his face impassive.

"She was your wife!" Fuku shouted, the heat of her flames intensifying.

"She was an insane wretch." Asgore said, his voice raspy. "If she'd been watching Asriel and Chara instead of sleeping by the fireplace, my son would still be alive! Instead, he left with that ... that human child and got himself killed. Humans, once again destroying everything we hold dear! And as if that weren't bad enough, Toriel had the sheer audacity to stand against me to defend the other humans who fell. It didn't matter; I took their souls, and there was nothing she could do about it ... and now, the last soul is within my reach."

He suddenly stopped, unable to move. Thick green vines were wrapped around his burned legs, holding him fast.

A small yellow flower popped out of the ground nearby.

"Run!" Flowey shouted, his small face full of desperation. "Get Frisk out of here!"

"No." Frisk said, moving to stand beside Sans and Fuku. "No more running. No more being afraid."

Sans and Fuku looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"The kid's right." Sans said, his eye flaring blue.

Asgore stared at them for a moment before letting out a long, cruel laugh. "You've thrown everything you have at me, and still I stand. All that work Gaster put into keeping his little toys secret, and it doesn't matter; it wasn't-"

"Let me tell you a story." Sans said. "once upon a time, a kid fell to the Underground. That kid made her way through the Underground slaughtering everything and everyone in her path. By the time I got off my lazy ass and tried to stop her, it was too late. Because of that, I'm the last monster of my universe."

Sans fixed his eyes on Asgore. "Funny thing is, I can't hate the kid. I did; she destroyed everything I ever cared about ... but then I came here. See, having some kid fall down here and routinely genocide the Underground, that was just an accident. Might as well had a rogue hurricane or tornado make its way down here; what are ya gonna go, right?"

Asgore slowly approached as Sans continued, "But what happened here, in your universe ... you did that, Asgore. You stole from them, you had them killed. You had your wife banished at the one time she needed you more than ever ... or didn't you ever consider that maybe Asriel and Chara's death might have hurt her too?"

"He didn't." Fuku said grimly. "Because he's selfish. It's all about him; him in charge, him ruling the surface, his pain more important than any he caused us."

"Well, that's gonna end now." Sans said. "Maybe you've seen my best, maybe not; maybe we don't stand a chance ... or maybe you're hanging on by a thread. Doesn't matter; we aren't letting you cause any more pain to the people of this Underground."

Asgore glared at Sans as he continued to struggle against Flowey's vines, though some were already strained to the point of breaking.

Sans closed his eyes and remembered the words he'd spoken over and over again, ever time he stood as the final defender of the Underground.

"It's a beautiful day outside." He said softly as he felt his blue eye surge with the last of his power. "Birds are singing, flowers are blooming ... on days like this, guys like you-"

Asgore's eyes suddenly went wide, throwing Sans off a little ... but not as much as the sight of Asgore's body dissolving into ash, leaving only the remnants of armor, Flowey's vines, and a floating white soul floating inches above the knife held in the hand of a bloody Toriel.

"... s-should be b-burning in ... h-hell ..." She whispered before falling to the ground.

"Mom!" The shout came from both Frisk and Flowey. Frisk ran over to the bossun woman, her face a mask of panic. "No ... mom, please ... not like this ..."

Fuku was the next to reach Toriel. She knelt by her body and placed a hand of white flame against Toriel's cheek. Sans could feel the healing energy as he approached.

"You're a healer?"

"In training." Fuku said. "I was a year away from getting certified. What did you think I was going to school for?"

"I dunno. I just thought you liked the schoolgirl outfit 'cuz it was hot."

She almost but not quite suppressed a smile. "Not the time, Sans."

Flowey popped his head out of the ground beside Toriel. "Is ... is she gonna be okay?"

Fuku didn't respond, her face a flaming mask of concentration.

Sans's gaze shifted to Asgore's soul as it fell slowly through the air and landed on one of Flowey's vines.

Flowey noticed too and started to pull his vines back in, only to freeze as the soul landed on him and instantly merged with him. Flowey's eyes went wide as cracks of light appeared over his vines, his stem, his leaves his face.

"Flowey!" Frisk cried out as his body seemed to coil in on itself, the light growing brighter and brighter until it hurt for Sans to look at it. With a final flash, the light shattered and fell away, revealing the small body of a young bossun boy.

He stared down at his hands, turning them and wiggling his fingers as though he couldn't believe it.

"A-Asriel ..." Toriel whispered, her eyes open a crack.

"Mom!" The young prince cried out, hugging his mother's side.

She put a weak hand around his bare furry shoulders. "My son ... you ... you're alive."

"I ... I-I ..."

"Shh." She put a finger over his mouth. "I ... I don't care. That I got to see you ... both of you one more time ... that's enough."

Toriel closed her eyes. Asriel and Frisk cried against their mother's side until Fuku sat back and said, "It's okay. She's just asleep."

Frisk and Asriel stared at Fuku as she stood up. "She still needs healing, but she's stable for the moment. Sans?"

"Right. I'll take us to New Home; the rebels will have healers with them." He paused and said, "Good work, Fuku."

She smiled at the praise, looking about as tired as Sans felt. Sans wasn't surprised; healing magic was notoriously difficult.

Nodding at Asriel, Sans said, "It'll take a minute or two to set up the shortcut. Frisk, you wanna help his Majesty find some clothes?"

Asriel's fuzzy face went pink, no doubt realizing that he'd returned to his original form unclothed. Frisk blushed as well, but grabbed the prince's hand and pulled him toward the house.

As Sans took a moment to focus his thoughts, he heard Fuku ask, "Sans ... there's something I have to ask you?"

"Why, Miss Fire, that's awfully forward of you."

He grinned as she hit him playfully in the arm. "Very funny, bone-head. No, I'm just a little curious about ... well ..."

"Yeah?"

She sighed and said, "Fluffybuns?"

Sans's laughter, filled with the culmination of his relief, happiness, and his renewed sense of hope, spilled from his mouth unhindered as Fuku watched, an amused smile on her face.


	43. Chapter 42 - Royally Screwed

**Chapter 42**

 **Royally Screwed**

To say confusion erupted in the throne room when Glen came bursting in with Chara on her shoulders was an understatement. It was pure pandemonium.

Queen Toriel, looking quite regal in her robes, stood up straight, her face stern as her hand moved to the trident resting beside the lone throne. Undyne and Alphys were standing near the throne, though both looked shocked at Glen's appearance. Several dog-knights of varying sizes soon surrounded Glen and Chara, their voices like barks as they demanded to know how she got there and what she planned to do. A few Temmie Knights remained at their posts. The only discrepancy was the lack of Magnificent, though the structure of the castle was as such that the little skeleton might have very well gotten lost.

"Miss Glen!" Undyne said, a look of horror on her face. "I ... I told you to wait in the chapel!"

"Bad news in the chapel." Glen said, setting Chara down. "You've got an ichor problem."

"Excuse me?" Queen Toriel said in the sort of voice that usually commands fleets.

"Oh, right." Glen gave the queen a quick bow before grabbing Chara and tilting her forward in a quick approximation of the same. "Glenda Adams Soleil, call me Glen, and Chara ... uh, Anodyne Esquire. Call her ..."

"Chara." Chara said, hiding behind Glen's leg again.

"Right. Look, I don't have forever to go into it, but I've been hopping dimensions and in the last one there was this kid who had this black stuff dripping from her we started calling ichor and it's really corrosive, burns me to the touch, and has some metamorphic effect on monsters, we lost a bunch of survivors, but we managed to lock them in the lower lab and I don't know what the cause is but its really dangerous and now its here, only its in a different-"

"That's enough!" The Queen commanded, rubbing her forehead. After a few moments of silence, she looked to Undyne. "Did any of that make sense to you?"

"Er, as I was saying before her arrival, Miss Glen is an inter-dimensional traveler. You see, according to some of the literature I've collected about humans, there exists the possibility of an infinite number of-"

"I am aware of multiverse theory, Doctor." Toriel said coldly. "And for the record, your comic books are not historical accounts."

Undyne's cheeks went red. "Well, u-um, she's saying that she encountered a viscous substance in a separate reality that seemed to have a negative effect on both humans and monsters, and is now claiming to have discovered the same substance here."

Toriel's eyes fell on Glen. Glen stared back evenly, hoping to put off the impression of someone who knew what she was talking about. Granted, she spent most of her life trying to pull that off to limited success, but it was still worth a try.

"All right." Toriel said. "If this is true, what do you suggest we do about-"

"Your Majesty!" Alphys shouted, pointing behind Glen. Glen turned to see a single temmie covered in ash limping into the room. From the lack of armor and weaponry, it was clearly the Dark Temmie, only it showed no outward signs of ichor.

Chara hugged Glen's leg tighter, trembling so hard that it felt like Glen had a massager taped to her thigh. Glen watched the Temmie with narrowed eyes. She seriously doubted it was truly injured ... so what was it trying to pull?"

"Ur Majsty ..." the Dark Temmie said, looking particularly pitiful as it hobbled closer to the throne. "Last survivor; Temmie Knights in chapel all ded."

This caused a gasp throughout the room, mostly from the other Temmie Knights.

One of them in gilded armor approached the Dark Temmie. "What are you saying? Those Knights were some of our best protectors!"

"All ded." Dark Temmie said with a sob.

"But who would do such a thing?" Captain Temmie asked.

Glen realized what was happening just a second too late. Even if she hadn't, the look of victory in the Dark Temmie's eyes made the situation perfectly clear.

"Human!" Dark Temmie screeched, pointing at Glen. "Human kill Temmie Knights! Human tear off their heads and laugh, and stomp on ashes!"

"What?!" Glen said, more out of indignance than anything. "Why in the name of the Creator would I kill Temmie Knights?"

"Please ..." The dark Temmie said as it continued crawling toward the queen. "Please no let human hurt temmie. Please no let human make temmie cry."

It was one of the oldest ruses in the book ... and yet, as Glen watched Toriel and saw the mothering instincts kicking in, she realized that noting she said was going to work.

Toriel picked up her trident, her face again stern. "Human, what have you to say in your defense?"

"I say it's a crock of bull." Glen said. "That Temmie's lying! It's the source of the ichor!"

Toriel stared at the Temmie for a long moment. It continued to whimper and limp as though injured. "Human so mean! Human torture Temmie Knights, human torture me!"

"Take her." Toriel commanded. Immediately, the massive dog knight in plate armor grabed Glen's arms.

"Whoa, big guy!" Glen said, "Easy!"

He barked at Glen and proceeded to pant, the heat (and most unfortunately, smell) of his breath washing over her.

"Lord Dogamy and Lady Dogessa." Toriel commanded. "Go to the chapel and report back as soon as you can."

As the two armored dogs headed for the door, Glen called out, "Don't touch the ichor! Whatever the stuff is, it effects monsters worse than humans!"

"Your Majesty," Undyne said, sounding a little nervous. "Perhaps I should accompany them. If this ichor is real and it poses a threat, I'll need to analyze it immediately."

"Go ahead." Toriel said, nodding at her. "In the meantime, I'll deal with the humans."

Undyne's eyes flashed to Glen's, concern in their yellow depths. Sighing, Glen nodded.

Toriel waited until the dog knights and Undyne were gone before looking at Glen. Trident in hand, she said, "You are accused of murdering my people, humans. If you have anything further to say, I suggest you do so quickly."

Chara hugged Glen's leg tightly. "M-miss Glen."

"It's all right, little one." To the queen, Glen said, "Chara has nothing to do with this. She has harmed no one; even if you find me guilty, I ask that you show her mercy; you only need one more soul, and if you're gonna kill me, you don't need to harm her."

"She is ... your child?"

"No, but I will defend her as my own if it comes to that."

Toriel met Glen's gaze with silence. After a long pause, she nodded. "Chara will not be harmed. What's more, should you be found guilty, I will protect her in your stead."

Had it been anyone but Toriel, Glen might have doubted the sincerity of her words. "Thank you, your Majesty."

Toriel turned to Alphys and said, "Captain Alphys; there is a spare room beside that of my wayward son; would you please take the child there?"

Alphys didn't look happy, but she only said, "Your Majesty." and stomped toward Glen and Chara. Chara shook her head.

"I wanna stay with Miss Glen." Chara said stubbornly.

"Chara." Glen said, kneeling beside the little girl. "It's okay. I'll be okay, you'll see."

"But ..." she shot a worried look at Alphys before cupping her hands and whispering, "She scares me."

"What, Alphys?" Glen said, feigning surprise. "Nah, she's just a big teddy bear. It's just for a little while, anyway."

'That's what mom said." Chara told Glen, hanging her head.

Glen felt her heart ache for the little girl. "Hey; look at me."

When Chara's red eyes met hers, Glen put her rune hand over the child's hand, the rune briefly glowing.

"I''ll be back." Glen promised. "And I promise by the end of the day, you'll have a family again ... even if it's just me."

Chara stared at Glen for a moment before throwing her arms around Glen. As Glen patted her back, she heard Chara say, "Frisk wants you to be careful too."

"I will." Glen said, smoothing her hair. Leaning a little closer, she added, "Now get somewhere safe."

Sniffing, Chara slowly approached Alphys, who gave her what she must've thought was a friendly grin. With a final look at Glen, Chara followed the lizard lady out of the room.

Queen Toriel stared at Glen for a long time before nodding at the dog guard. "Bring her."

Toriel led the Greater Dog and Glen out of the throne room. After passing through a few nondescript rooms, Toriel opened a massive door to reveal the now-familiar passage to the surface. The magic of the barrier swirled in the air, its resonant energy setting Glen's hair on end.

"You are dismissed." Toriel said, not turning around.

"Your Majesty?"

"You may return to the throne room." Toriel said firmly.

The dog knight nervously saluted and swiftly departed.

Glen and Toriel stood at the barrier in silence for at least a full minute.

"For the record, I understand." Glen said.

"What do you understand?" Toriel asked, still not looking at her.

"That it doesn't matter if I'm guilty or innocent. You need my soul to free your people."

Toriel turned her head toward Glen slightly and regarded her for a moment before nodding. "My people have waited so long already. They deserve to be free."

"Like I said, I understand." Glen said. "I'm not even angry. I'll have to put up a fight, of course."

"Of course." Toriel let out a deep sigh, her eyes on her trident. She raised it a few feet before stopping and lowering it back to the floor. She met Glen's gaze.

"You could pass through the barrier." She said. "You'll need the soul of a monster."

"No, I don't. I don't want to pass through the barrier, Toriel, and despite what that ichor-infested creature says, I'm not here to kill you." Glen said. "I'm not here to kill anyone. Oh, I'll fight, and I'll defend myself, but I know you, Toriel. Well, I know a Toriel, and because of that, I know you don't want this either. If you had another option, you'd take it in a second."

"Gladly." She said. "But what option do I have?"

Glen looked at the barrier. It was powerful, yes, but Glen had been one of the thirteen to stop the Epitimus Incident. She was also functionally immortal; even the mightiest barrier would have to fall eventually.

"Give me time to examine the barrier." Glen said. "Post guards if it makes you and yours feel safe. I'm sure I can find a way to break it without hurting anyone else if you'll just give me the chance."

"A chance." Toriel repeated thoughtfully. "And ... if you succeeded ..."

"When I succeed, I'll introduce you and yours to the surface world. I'll get in touch with whatever government is in charge and do everything in my power to make your integration into the human world as smooth as possible."

"But why?" Toriel asked, genuine confusion in her eyes. "Why do all this for us?"

"Because I've had a chance to get to know a lot of your people since arriving here." Glen said with a smile. "Sans and Papyrus, Rahnna, Mister Kidd, Undyne and Alphys, and so many more. Your people are kind, friendly, and they don't deserve to be imprisoned down here anymore. They probably didn't even deserve it to begin with."

Toriel seemed to be considering Glen's words when loud shouting made the bossun queen's eyes shift to the passage through which they'd arrived. It wasn't fighting; the monsters seemed to be shouting in warning.

Toriel's eyes widened. "Oh my goodness." She breathed.

Glen turned as something horrid stepped into the passage. Gleaming ichor covered the writhing surface of a horrid misshapen creature that lumbered forward on five legs. All across its skin, the faces of the fallen Temmie-Knights could be seen, all showing signs of great pain. Atop the beast stood the Dark Temmie, ichor dripping from its eyes and mouth as it cackled.

"Oh no, help Temmie, temmie so small and hurt!" Dark Temmie dropped the sickeningly sweet voice to let out another laugh. "Idiots."

"What are you?" Queen Toriel asked, clearly horrified. "What have you done with my guards?"

"Ah, your Majesty!" Dark Temmie gave a mocking bow before laughing again. "You're the biggest idiot of them all. Your people imprisoned, and you still can't do what's necessary to save them. If you had, I wouldn't have had to die to try and free us myself. Your pathetic guards are fine; I covered the floor with ichor, but they listened to the human's warning. I was counting on it."

"You?" Toriel asked. "But who ..."

"Me and Frisk. It should've been so simple; merge our souls after my unfortunate passing, then pass the barrier and simply take the other six. The world out there had completely forgotten magic; it would've been easy pickings ... but Frisk, that little goodie two-shoes, she wouldn't let me harm a fly. She had to go to Ebott and ask for help. It got her killed, and me consigned to this ... this ... pathetic form."

Shaking his head, Dark Temmie said, "Give me the souls, and maybe I'll let you and the human live. Don't, and I'll infect every monster in the Underground with this ..." Dark Temmie looked at Glen with a twisted smile. "... ichor."

"Your Majesty!"

Glen and Toriel turned to see the Magnificent Sans run through the door. He wasn't alone; Asriel was with him too. They both carried what appeared to be a lunchbox with a large horn on it. They weren't horns, however; they were halogen bulbs. Glen barely had time to cover her eyes before Sans and Asriel blasted the light at the Dark Temmie and the Temalgamate.

The Dark Temmie screamed in pain punctuated by the cries from the Temalgamate. The beast thrashed about, quickly knocking off its mount.

"Asriel?" Queen Toriel said, recognition in her eyes. "You ... you came-"

"No time, your Majesty!" Sans said. Indeed, the light of the halogen bulbs was already flickering. "We need to get back to the throne room!"

"NO!" The Dark Temmie screamed. Ichor surged from it, enveloping the Temalgamate. The mass of merged Temmies surged to the door, right toward Sans and Asriel, who managed to leap out of the way just in time.

"NONE OF YOU ARE LEAVING!" The Dark Temalgamate rose from the floor, now resembling one massive Temmie with dozens of ichorous paws. "YOU'RE ALL GONNA HAVE A BAD TEM!"

"Oh, hell." Glen said, wishing again that she had Headache.

Her eyes widened as she felt her rune pulse in response to her thoughts. "Oh, no." She said, "Not like that. Not here, not now!"

It was too late; the ground was already shaking. Magnificent and Toriel looked confused, but Asriel met Glen's gaze, fully aware of what was about to happen moments before the massive metal form of the Mechawyrm erupted from the ground.

. It was bigger now, much bigger; it took up a third of the room, its massive coils brushing up against the barrier.

The Dark Temalgamate screamed at it before puking a stream of ichor at the Mechawyrm ... but the Mechawyrm was only a construct. The ichor splashed harmlessly off the Mechawyrm and fell to the ground, no more thick or viscous than water.

With a roar, the Mechawyrm dove at the Dark Temalgamate, its massive metal jaws open wide. Glen was sure it would pulverize the Dark Temmie, but was astonished when several of the Dark Temalgamate's paws caught the metal jaws and held them fast.

Glen hurried over to Magnificent and Asriel. "The flashlights!"

"They're burnt out!" Asriel said. "I didn't have much time to throw them together."

"Let me see!"

They handed over the inactive flashlights. Glen set them on the ground and went to work, checking connections, making repairs, and finally channeling her Dreamer power into both of the batteries. The lamps flared to life moments later.

"Focus them on the Temmie!" Glen said before moving away from them.

"But what about the giant metal snake?" Magnificent asked.

"You let me worry about that!" Under her breath, she added, "It was my fault, after all."

Glen started with the coils; the Mechawyrm was busy fighting the Dark Temalgamate, so the end of its body was currently not moving. Glen's eyes danced across the Mechawyrm's long body for some sign of Headache.

The flashlights were having an effect; the ichor was slowly falling away from the Dark Temalgamate, sometimes taking large chunks with them. These chunks hit the floor of the cavern with a series of splats. Some gradually turned to ash, but a few actually coalesced into temmies.

The Dark Temalgamate tried to reabsorb the temmies, but the Queen was not having that. Her fire sent the dark creature running more than the Mechawyrm, the light of the flames just as bad as that of the halogen lamps. She picked up the small bodies of the Temmies and carried them to safety before leaping bravely back into the fray to rescue more.

The smaller the Dark Temalgamate got, the less it was able to resist the Mechawyrm's assault until finally, the Dark Temmie was unable to keep the jaws of the Mechawyrm from slowly closing around it. With a final whimper from the Dark Temmie, the jaws slammed shut.

"Ha ha!" Magnificent said, pumping his flashlight in the air. "The Magnificent Sans is victorius!"

"It's not over yet!" Asriel said, eyes wide. "Look!"

The Mechawyrm slowly turned its gaze on the small figures below it. It was hard to tel what the machine could be thinking or feeling, but there was no doubt as to what was about to happen when it opened its now-empty jaws wide.

The two bossun, the skeleton, and the temmies flew in all directions as the Mechawyrm slammed into the ground, this time tearing a massive hole in the ground.

"Glen!" Asriel called out, "We need that music gun!"

"Good thinking!" Glen tried to call another dubstep gun. Unfortunately, while it was a simple matter in a parts-laden environment like the Junkyard, there were no parts in the area near the barrier save those of the Mechawyrm, and they didn't respond.

The ground rumbled shortly before the Mechawyrm tore its way through the ground once again. It coiled around itself and rose, mouth opening to attack.

"This is why you put failsafes in things you make." Glen grumbled, her mind briefly thinking of the crotchedy old rimstakken she'd mentored under back on Vinta.

She froze. Failsafe. Security failsafe. The Mechawyrm didn't have a failsafe ... but Headache did.

"Headache: Action code forty-seven!" She bellowed as loud as her lungs could manage. "Authorization turbo-cheesecake!"

The Mechawyrm's head shot down to strike, only to suddenly be pulled off-target as one of the body segments near the head slammed against the ground at an odd angle, pulled by the massive increase in the Headache units weight. Glen rushed over to the segment on the floor and spotted part of Headache partially integrated into the body of the Mechawyrm.

She tried in vain to pull away the parts covering her gear, but the metal was stuck fast by whatever force held the Mechawyrm together.

"Asriel! NO!" Toriel shouted.

Glen looked up to see Asriel leaping onto the body segment, the metal rod he used for poking through garbage on his back. Glen took it and jammed it under some of the parts obscuring Headache. Together they managed to pry the metal loose.

"Almost there." Glen said, pointing to the partially-covered arm-hole of one of the units before jamming the rod under the scrap covering it. Before they could pry it loose, however, they found themselves rising through the air. The Mechawyrm was adapting to the increased mass of Headache.

It tried to shake the two beings from its body, but Glen and Asriel were holding on to the metal rod with everything they had. The movement did make the metal scrap loosen, however.

"Just a little more." Glen said, tugging at the last piece of scrap with her bare hand until it finally gave way and clattered to the floor of the cavern. Glen wasted no time jamming her arm into Headache. She felt a surge of relief as the inside sleeve tightened around her arm.

"Oh yeah!" She said, yanking the restored unit free from the Mechawyrm. "One down, one to go!"

The Mechawyrm let out a metal scream. Without warning, it shot for the barrier at full force.

The Mechawyrm wasn't a monster or a human; it could probably pass the barrier without problem. Unfortunately, the barrier would repel both Glen and Asriel, and at their current height, that would have been problematic.

Glen grabbed Asriel's arm with her unarmed hand. Her plan was to leap away and hopefully latch the grapple on something closer than the cavern floor. The partial Inverse Harmonius rune on her left hand, however, had other plans. Glen felt her body go rigid as power flowed into the fragment of the Inverse Harmonius, forming a shimmering bubble around her and Asriel.

The mechawyrm passed through the barrier, as did Asriel and Glen, the shimmering bubble vanishing moments after they passed.

"All right." Glen said, shaking off the weirdness that just happened. "Let's finish this!"

She dug her Headache-equipped hand into the metal scrap of the Mechawyrm, yanking out metal scrap and machine fragments until she was able to finally tear her other Headache unit out of the Mechawyrm.

Apparently, since Headache was the source of its creation, the absense of Headache spelled the end of the mechanical monstrosity. Robbed of the dream energy feeding it, the Mechawyrm slammed to the ground, writhing even as it fell into its individual parts. In a matter of moments, all that remained was a mass of junk.

Asriel and Glen looked at each other for moment in shock before leaping up as one and shouting with excitement over their victory.

"Oh, yeah!" Glen said, pointing at the remains of the Mechawyrm. "That's what you get for messin' with a Dreamer, rust-face!"

"We did it! We did it!" Asriel sang.

"Asriel!"

Glen and Asriel stopped their moment of jubilation to look at Toriel ... still on the other side of the barrier.

Asriel's eyes went wide as he slowly turned the other way, to the end of the tunnel.

"You're all right!" Toriel said, in tears. "Oh, thank heavens!"

"And you're past the barrier!" Magnificent said, his sockets as wide as they could go. "How'd ya do that?"

Glen glanced at the fragment of the Inverse Harmonius. "I don't know. It just kinda happened."

"Well, can you make it happen again?" Magnificent asked excitedly, fists clenched. "I bet it's a beautiful day outside!"

Glen closed her eyes and held out the Inverse Harmonius. She tried to push the power of the Anti-ka Maru to it, but the Inverse Harmonius shard felt ... well, dead.

"Glen?" Asriel said.

Glen shook her head. "I musta burned it out or something; it's only part of the rune, after all."

Looking at Toriel, Glen said, "But don't worry. Now that I'm past the barrier, my options are open. Hogwarts, Centers of Knowledge, Aperture Science ... I've got a million places that might have a solution. I just need to-"

Asriel tapped Glen's shoulder. Glen turned to find the young Dreemurr staring at the end of the passage, where a small group of armed individuals in what looked like armored hazard suits were swiftly moving toward them. Among them were strange hunched creatures with two glowing red eyes placed vertically with the larger on the bottom. They didn't wear cloths, though in truth they were so alien that Glen didn't know what they might have to be modest about.

The men and women spread out, as did the red-eyed creatures. One woman approached Glen, a strange weapon in her arms. From the white stripes present on her armor, Glen guessed she was some kind of authority.

After staring at Glen and even longer at Asriel, she raised the device.

"No!" Toriel cried out. "No, don't hurt my son! Please! I beg you, please-"

"Please stand aside." The woman said.

"I beg your pardon?" Glen said, surprised.

"You and your friend are in the way. We can't bring down the barrier until you step out of the way."

Asriel's eyes went wide. Before he could ask anything, however, Glen clapped a hand over his mouth and pulled him off to the side of the cavern. Once there, he called out, "Queen Toriel! Magnificent! Temmie Knights! Stand clear of the barrier!"

The woman with the strange weapon gave Glen and Asriel an appreciative nod and promptly fired a stream of blue energy at the barrier.

"Vortigaunts!" She called out.

The strange red-eyes creatures raised their hands in unison and chanted in a strange alien tongue. Glen watched in amazement as streams of energy flowed from the aliens' hands, merging with the blue beam. She could feel the barrier beginning to break down. It just needed one more little push.

Glen raised her right hand and focused her thoughts on bringing down the barrier. Even within Headache, her rune reacted and shot thin beams of light at the barrier. In a matter of moments, a loud crack shot through the air, followed by another. With the sound of shattering glass, the barrier finally gave way, the magical energy immediately dispelling.

Toriel stepped slowly across the barrier, her eyes wide as she crossed the threshold.

"Congratulations." Glen said as she approached. "You're free."

She took a few more steps before breaking into a run. Glen quickly stepped back before she ran through her to reach her son, whom she pulled into a tight embrace.

"Mom." He said, embarrassed but smiling.

"Shh." She said, smiling as well. "Just ... just let me your mother one more time."

"You're always his mother, Tori." Said a deep voice. Glen turned to see Asgore hand in hand with little Chara, joined by Papyrus, Alphys, and Undyne, as well as some of the dog guards.

"Asgore ..." Toriel whispered, releasing Asriel as he drew near. She looked like she wanted to embrace him, but only blushed and looked away.

"Asgore, I ... I was a fool. I should never have-"

"Shh." The large bossun said, pulling his wife into his massive arms. "It's okay. It'll all be okay now."

After a few moments, he pulled away and put his hand on Chara's shoulder. "I see you met Chara. Little scamp snuck out of old home while I was sleeping. Still, I know you always wanted a daughter, so I was thinking maybe she could-"

"Yes!" Toriel said, hugging the little girl. "Of course, you can live with us!"

Chara peeked over Toriel's shoulder to look at Glen. Smiling, Glen gave her the thumbs up. Chara beamed and hugged Toriel back.

Seeing the family reunited was enough to bring a tear to Glen's eye. Sighing happily, she wiped her eyes and turned to the leader of the rescue team."

"Don't know how you knew they were down here, don't know how you figured out how to break the barrier." Glen said, "But I'm damn glad you did."

The woman accepted the praise with a stoic-faced nod. "The woman with white fur ... she is the leader?"

Glen glanced back at Toriel, Asgore, and Asriel. They were smiling and talking now; a family reunited. "Yup. Queen Toriel Dreemurr. Good queen; just hit desperate circums- hey, where are you going?"

The woman was already approaching the Royal family. Glen followed, unsure of her intentions.

"Queen Toriel Dreemurr?" The woman asked.

Toriel nodded, an uncertain look on her face.

"I am Captain Marcela Price." After a moment's hesitation, Captain price knelt before Toriel. "I am at your mercy."

"What?" Toriel said, eyes wide.

"A decade ago, one of your people came to the surface to ask us for help. I was a young cadet then, eager to prove myself against the Combine and ... and one day, I'm on patrol and I see a little girl with horns hovering over a friend of mine."

Her cheeks flushed, Captain Price said, "I acted without considering the context ... I shot her. We never found the body, but the amount of blood ... I know she couldn't have survived."

"You killed Frisk." Asriel said.

After a short pause, Captain Price nodded. "Yes. My friend ... he told me later that the girl had simply surprised him, that she just wanted our help to free her people. She came to us for help, and I shot her."

"That's why you're here, isn't it?" Glen said. "You brought down the barrier to make up for that mistake."

"I can't bring that little girl back." Captain Price said, "but I could complete her mission. It took years, especially with the war against the Combine, but we finally found a way to compensate for the unusual energy of the field and ..."

She stopped herself and said, "But the fact remains I killed one of your people ... and I'm prepared to answer for that."

Toriel slowly knelt in front of the woman and took her hands. "I know what it is to suffer because of one's mistakes, Marcela, and I'm sad to say there is innocent blood on my hands as well, all because I let anger and grief cloud my judgment."

Looking at Asgore as he put his hand on her shoulder, she said, "But if my husband and son can forgive me for the pain I caused them and others, I too must show forgiveness. What you've done may not bring them back, but it has given their death meaning. They left the Underground to save us all ... and they succeeded … and so did you."

The Queen of the Underground embraced the human. Glen couldn't help but think that moment would define the relations between humans and monsters far into the future. Asriel looked ... complicated. Still, even he apparently couldn't find it in his heart to hold on to anger in light of the day's events. When Tori introduced him with her family, Asriel shook her hand.

Satisfied that all was reasonably well, Glen approached one of the other human soldiers and gave him a quick nod. "Got the time?"

The man tapped the side of his head, a holo-display flashing over his eyes for a moment. "Five minutes till six."

"AM or PM?"

"AM, ma'am."

"Thank you." Clapping her hands, Glen called out, "All right, everyone, the sun's gonna be rising in a few minutes. Everyone who wants to see it, follow me!"

Glen reached the end of the cavern first and waited as everyone else walked by her; the extended Dreemurr family, Sans and Papyrus now joined by Rahnna, a nervous Undyne hand in hand with Alphys, and a whole bunch of temmie knights in hastily retrieved blue and yellow undershirts. As the soldiers and the vourtigaunts (surprisingly friendly beings, Glen thought to herself as they bowed their heads her way upon passing), Glen noticed the guard she asked for the time was remaining behind.

A sudden question popped into her head; who was the friend Frisk was going to see? Who was the friend that Captain Price thought was in trouble, the friend who suggested she take Frisk's mission to atone?

As if sensing her thoughts, the soldier pulled off his right glove and raised his hand, the back of his hand facing her so she could see the glowing Anti-ka Maru. Smiling, he held a finger to his lips and promptly vanished.

A grin slowly stole across Glen's face. Turning to join the others, she called out, "Hey! Wait for me!"


	44. Chapter 43 - Through the Fire and Flames

**Chapter 43**

 **Through the Fire and the Flames**

Another wave of vertigo fell over Sans as he, Fuku, Frisk, Asriel, and Toriel appeared in the rebel base. Fuku already had a hold on his arm, however, so he didn't fall over.

"It's a good thing I'm not counting on me being the power source for the Inverse Harmonius." Sans said as he waited for the dizziness to pass.

He felt her push something into her hand. It was a bottle of ketchup.

"Thanks, Fuku." He said before taking a long drink from the red container.

"Anytime, Fluffybones." She said with a teasing smile before moving to check on the still unconscious Toriel. She and Sans moved the bossun woman to one of the cots laying around the room. Frisk and Asriel followed, the former setting Mettaton's head on the cot beside Toriel's. Sans almost said something about it, but stopped himself; if it comforted Frisk, he didn't object to the grisly reminder of Asgore's rage.

Sans looked around the base for signs of activity, but found it completely vacant. Even the River Person's chamber was empty.

"Guess they really did go all out." Sans said, eyeing the empty racks that formerly held weapons and armor. "With any luck, they'll be done by now."

Turning to the group, Sans said, "All right; we're not too far from the palace now. I'm gonna go scope it out real quick and make sure the fighting's died down."

"I'm coming with you." Fuku said, standing up.

"What about Toriel?" Sans asked.

"There's nothing more I can do now than make sure we get a fully-trained healer."

Nodding, Sans said, "Fair enough. Frisk, Asriel, you stay here until we get back. See if you can't find a disguise or hiding place for Frisk in case someone comes back before us."

"Oh!" Asriel said, eyes alight. "I know! C'mon, Frisk!"

Sans watched as Asriel led Frisk away by the hand. Already his years of scientific experience were asking questions; would it have to be a bossun soul, or could it be human? Were there any side-effects, and was the change permanent? Was it truly the soul, or was it the determination contained within it that prompted the change?

He shook his head. There was no way to tell now, not in that reality anyway. Still, it was good news; Glen's Asriel could be restored ... provided Sans could find her again.

Feeling Fuku's hand on his shoulder, Sans shook his head and said, "Yeah, I'm coming."

They left the secret passage, closing the lid of the steamer trunk to ensure no monster stumbled upon it by accident, and made their way out of the building without incident. In fact, they didn't see another living soul, even once they were out on the street.

Sans and Fuku exchanged glances. Words were unnecessary; they could both feel it. It was like a low hum or a shrill note just above the audible spectrum; resonating through them and leaving uneasy.

They hurried through the empty streets of New Home, both keeping their eyes our for signs of life. While not finding any monsters, there were signs of passage; the streets were practically filled with discarded garments and possessions.

Picking up a gilded pocket-watch, Sans said, "This isn't junk; it's still ticking too. Someone just abandoned this like ..."

"... like they had to leave in a hurry." Fuku said, her face grim. "Sans ... you mentioned you were gonna open a dimensional gate to get us out of here. Do you think this is because of that?"

"You think the whole Underground was watching Mettaton's show?" Sans shook his head. "Even if they were, don't you think we'd still see people packing? Someone lagging behind? I didn't exactly put a time table on getting people out of here, so why leave behind so much stuff?"

Fuku suddenly clenched Sans's hand tightly. "Sans!" She said, pointing to a small mound of suitcases. There were too many of them for someone to simply have dropped them all right there. Drawing near, Sans spotted the piles of ash.

"I see it." Sans said, glancing around the immediate area for signs of what killed the poor monster as it attempted to flee. On closer inspection, he spotted a few strange tiny scorch marks on the ground. They were too small to be fire magic, though Sans' wasn't sure what kind of weapon would leave such a mark in solid stone.

There were more piles of ash as they drew nearer Castle Dreemurr. Most were around what Sans assumed were their belongings, but outside the castle, but ash was surrounded by gold-embossed armor and clothing, both of the palace guards and the rebels. There were signs of fierce fighting.

"Question is, were they fighting each other, or were they fighting whatever killed those other monsters?" Sans asked aloud, more to himself than anyone.

Fuku nodded. She looked worried as they continued into the castle.

Knowing she must've been worried about her father, Sans patted her on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry; it'd take an army to snuff out Grillby. That guy, he's an inferno."

She gave him a smile. "Thanks. C'mon; we should hurry."

Unfortunately, they only found more ash and empty armor. Sans felt an odd chill as they walked through the chapel, the massive sun windows shattered. The familiar ache of a thousand hopeless battles fought there still burned in his memory.

"What's wrong?" Fuku asked.

"It's nothing." Sans told her. "Just ... bad times. Remember how I said i tried to stop the genocide in my universe?"

When she nodded, he gestured to the room. "This is where it finally went down. This is where I finally got a backbone and tried to do something about it."

She took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Hey. You tried. You made an effort, even if it was a little late."

"Yeah." Sans said, still feeling a little glum. Shaking his head, he said, "Let's keep moving, yeah?"

"Okay." She said, giving his hand another squeeze.

There were more ash piles in the hallways the further into the castle they walked. The feel of unease was definitely intensifying, and Sans found himself glancing back every now and then, just in case. Fuku was hugging Sans's arm now, the bright points of her eyes darting hopefully to every new corridor only to turn to disappointment.

Eventually, they found the massive doors leading to the throne room. One lay on the floor and the other hung from a single hinge.

"That's not a good sign." Sans said. As they stepped into the room, however, they saw a single monster standing in the middle of the room. If the black armor, blue skin, and red hair weren't enough of a giveaway, the glowing blue spear the fish-woman held made it perfectly clear.

"Ah ... the mysterious other Sans." Undyne said, not turning to face them. "So there you are. You've been busy."

"Yeah, well there's a lot that needed doing."

Undyne laughed ... and yet there was something off about her laughter. Yes, it was a maniacal laugh that hinted at mental instability, but he heard that all the time from his own Undyne. This was more a difference in tone, something that made it sound like someone else using her voice.

"Where is the human child?" Undyne asked, her voice strangely quiet.

"Doesn't matter." Sans said. "We don't need-"

It was a good thing Fuku was faster than Sans; she pulled the skeleton behind the remaining door, the glowing spear passing so close to him that it cut the side of his coat.

"Are you o-OH!" Fuku jerked back as another of Undyne's spears slamming into the door, its head stabbing the air between Fuku and Sans. They ran from the door moments before it too was torn from its remaining hinge. Undyne threw it across the corridor, where it slammed over the passage, cutting off their escape.

Sans felt a massive hand grab his shirt and pull him from Fuku only to slam him against the wall.

"Sans!" Fuku cried out.

Sans couldn't speak; it wasn't just the shock of being lifted and slammed against the wall; he could see Undyne's face now, though he could scarcely recognize it as such; the blue scales of her face were stretched over a skull that was too large for it, a pair of thick glasses obscuring the eyes even as they made Sans realize just who ... or more accurately, what he was fighting.

"Alphys?" Sans said. "Jesus, Doc, what the hell did you do to yourself?"

Some of her armor was missing, revealing that what lay beneath was nothing but coiled tubing and metal, with only a few patches of dull blue scales remaining. Most frightening of all was the strange opening in ehr stomach, the translucent plating revealing the glowing form of a human soul merged with that of a monster.

She hurled him through the open doorway and into the throne room. Sans managed to twist around and land on the ground facing ... whatever Alphys was.

"I improved myself." Alphys said with Undyne's voice. "Now I have a body to match my magnificent mind."

She stepped into the throne room. "I've been working on it for ages, you know; cybernetic upgrades, genetic engineering, psychological manipulation ... all so I could finally destroy that wretch of a king."

"And Undyne?" Sans asked. "What about her? She loved you."

"She still loves me." Alphys said, her hand touching the translucent cover over the combined souls. "And now we'll be together forever, just as she wanted."

Sans couldn't help but shudder. He didn't know anything about the Undyne of that universe, and given the rest of the place he probably wouldn't have liked her anyway, but what Alphys did to her made it impossible to feel anything but sympathy for the Captain of the Guard.

"So ... what?" Sans said, standing up. "You did this to take over the kingdom?"

"Not just take over; I will improve our ability to survive!" Alphys said. "Think about it; even the strongest monster cannot stand up to the strength and determination of a human soul. It doesn't matter how many weapons, how much armor we stock up; we'll still be easy pickings for the remnants of humanity."

She looked at her arm, her twisted face full of self-admiration. "But with my modifications, our army will sweep across the surface and destroy all resistance. Think of it, Sans; all those human souls just there for the taking! With my modifications, monsters will become like gods! Just look at me! Look at this form! Look at my magic!"

Sans dove aside moments before a flood of spears flashed through the air. Glancing at the wall, he was shocked to see the spears formed a perfect silloutte of him on the wall.

"Such power! Such control!" Alphys said, clenching a massive fist. "We'll be unstoppable! But before any of that, we must deal with the barrier."

"Why?" Sans asked. "You've already got a human and a monster soul. You can pass through the barrier."

"Do you think me a fool? I've worked too long to achieve this to risk throwing it away by overconfidence. I will leave, but I will not be alone; my core-bots managed to sneak away one soul without triggering the failsafe, but there are five more in Asgore's vaults, as well as the soul of the human you're protecting. Seven's still small for an army, but it'll be enough for us to gather more. The barrier won't even matter; with my improvements, we'll simply walk out of here."

"Who's we?" Sans asked. "All we've found was ash."

"Yes, the ash of traitors. The ash of rebels, and the ash of those foolish enough to stand with the king."

"And the people running away?" Sans asked. "The people just trying to escape?"

"Cowards and fools!" Alphys snapped. "Idiots who rejected their potential for a pipe dream of finding a better universe."

Shaking her head, Alphys said, "I need the human, and I know you know where it is. Tell me now, and I'll allow you to join me. Hang on to the foolish hope of hiding her, and I'll turn you to ash where you stand.

"Hmm." Sans said, rubbing his chin. "Let me think."

The Gaster Blaster appeared silently behind Undyne. It opened its mouth as Sans pretended to think, slowly charging power until finally releasing it in one massive blast.

Sans shielded his eyes from the light. Once it faded, he looked back up and immediately felt his draw drop.

Alphys was laughing. The attack hadn't even knocked off another part of her armor; it hadn't done much more than sizzle her hair.

"I saw your fight with Asgore, Sans." Alphys said. "But you forget that I too worked with Gaster."

Sans's eye-sockets widened. "You ... you remember Gaster?"

Alphys's blue skin stretched thin across an evil grin as she raised her hand. The air shimmered before a giant Gaster Blaster appeared in the air above her. The massive Gaster Blaster was half-machine, oil-caked metal looking to have consumed the bone.

Sans was so transfixed on the horror of the Alphys Blaster that he didn't notice Undyne's other hand move before it was too late. The spear hit him in the chest, pinning him to the wall with surprisingly little pain. He looked down and saw the spear had shot through his ribs, not hitting the bone but also making it difficult for him to free himself.

"Last chance." Alphys commanded, her blaster charging. "Tell me where the human is. If not, you'll get an up-close look at how I improved Professor Gaster's work."

Sans glared at her, blue eye flaring. "Not a chance."

"Very well."

Sans tugged at the spear with everything he had. The spearhead was deep in the wall, but he could feel it slowly give despite his awkward grip on the shaft. It wasn't giving fast enough, however; in a matter of moments, the Alphys Blaster finished charging.

Just as Alphys started to bring her hand down, however, a burst of white fire caught her in the face. Alphys screeched, clutching her face for a moment before turning to Fuku.

Fuku was livid, the bright blue of her flame burning a bright white all around her. She skimmed across the ground, dodging spears with a grace Sans couldn't help but envy. The blasts of fire that flew from her fingertips seemed to home in on Alphys, each blast

Realizing he was wasting time and that the Alphys Blaster was still pointed straight at him, Sans tugged at the spear. With a final pull, he felt the spear leave the stone behind him. Pulling it carefully out of his rib-cage, Sans turned to find Undyne and Fuku struggling; Alphys's spear pushing against blades of pure white flame shooting from Fuku's hands.

For a moment, Fuku looked like she was the stronger; whatever well of power she was pulling from, however, was emptying quickly. Her flames faded, and with it her strength until Alphys shoved her to the ground, her spear shattering the fiery blades.

There were no words; Alphys simply lifted the speak over Fuku's helpless form to deal the final blow ... and stopped, her eyes going wide. One hand fell to the head of the spear sticking through her soul compartment.

Sans let go of the shaft, still feeling a little stunned. Quickly shaking it off, he hurried to Fuku's side and helped sit up.

"Sans ..." She said, head lolling slightly. "You ... you have to go."

"Like hell I do." He said, putting her arm around his neck. "Upsies!"

Alphys pulled the spear out of her body with a scream that would've set Sans's hair on end had he any. Alphys's Blaster spun about and blasted the wall beside Sans and Fuku, stopping their attempted escape.

"Die!" Alphys snarled as her Blaster centered on them.

The door covering the exit suddenly flew the other way, propelled by an explosion from the other side. Three figures were standing in the cleared passage; River Person, looking somewhat worse for wear, Wolfred, whose gilded armor was covered with ash, and the bright purple flame of Grillby, a large canister containing a single orange soul in his hands.

Grillby's eyes flickered to Sans and his daughter before turning on Alphys.

"I'll end you." Alphys said, "Just like I was about to end your daughter! And there's nothing you can do about it."

"Oh?" Grillby said, his voice strangely quiet.

Sans realized what was about to happen. "Grillby, no! We n-"

Grillby brought his hands together, shattering through the walls of the container and touching the glowing soul.

The effect was immediate. Grillby's flames flared around him, their light so bright that Sans had to shield his eyes. The light flashed by him and Fuku, followed by a surprised cry from Alphys. Sans risked a peek and let out a gasp. Grillby had Alphys by both hands, his purple flames burning so intensely that he looked three times his normal size. His flames snaked over Alphys's stolen body, burning away scale and skin and melting metal.

Alphys ran him through with spear after spear, but Grillby didn't so much as flinch. He lifted Alphys as though she weighed nothing and hurled her across the chamber. Her body landed on the throne, knocking it over and smashing it to kindling beneath her weight.

River Person and Wolfred grabbed Sans and Fuku.

"Come on." River Person said, "We have to go."

"No!" Fuku cried out, struggling to escape Wolfred's grasp. "Dad!"

"Go with them, little flame." Grillby said, not turning.

"D-dad ..."

"Please." Grillby said as Alphys rose to her feet. "Let me be good father just this once. Wolfred."

Wolfred nodded and pulled Fuku toward the passage. She resisted a little before finally letting the wolfman help her.

River Person gestured to Sans. Sans glanced at Grillby as he prepared to fight Alphys.

"We'll keep a fire going for you." He said, "So don't do somethin' stupid like dying."

To his surprise, Grillby let out a laugh. It was the first laugh Sans ever heard Grillby, any Grillby, ever make. Grillby gave Sans a quick nod. "Until then."

"Until then." Sans repeated before following River Person out of the chamber.


	45. Chapter 44 - The Show Must Go On!

**Chapter 44**

 **The Show Must Go On!**

The sounds of fighting followed them through the Castle, the force of magic and physicality echoing throughout the stone corridors.

"So much for the human soul." Sans glanced at River Person. "Any chance you got another one?"

River Person shook his hooded head. "Unfortunately, the king has a security system in place; when one soul is removed, the others become completely locked down. With so few of us left, breaking through it will be impossible, I'm afraid."

Sans sighed and rubbed his skull. So much for the Inverse Harmonius. He supposed they could try the core again; at that point, what was there to lose?

Fuku remained silent as they moved through the castle. Sans wanted to tell her Grillby would be all right, but even he was worried about the fiery bartender and restaurant entrepreneur.

They stopped outside the castle, where the last remnants of the rebels were regrouping. Some looked to have tried to fight Alphys, while others were just lucky to have been with the team attempting to get the souls.

"All right." Sans said, "I'll wait here for Grillby. River Person, you mind keepin' me company?"

"Not at all." River Person said.

"Sans ..." Fuku said, twisting her hands nervously.

Sans took Fuku's hands in his, leaned forward, and kissed her ... not a peck on the cheek, but a full-on magical kiss through what passed as their lips.

"I'll be fine." He told her, taking her hand between his. "Go ahead and head back to the others; let them know about Frisk and Toriel, and make sure no one gets the bright idea to harvest the kid's soul. Could you do that for me?"

"O-okay." She whispered, a small smile forming between the pink flames of her cheeks.

Sans and River Person watched as the others departed. Once they were gone, Sans said, "So, while we're waiting ... what's your name in this dimension?"

"Pardon me?"

"No, pardon me. I really thought you might be River Person for awhile, you know, but I can't help but notice a few things; mysterious figure helping the resistance, working from the shadows to try and make things better, a penchant for causing trouble, and a distinct lack of tra la las." Sans grinned at him. "I think we could clear everything up if you just show me your writing hand."

River Person paused for a moment before extending his left hand and removing the glove to reveal dark skin and a glowing Anti-ka Maru.

"Ha!" Sans laughed. "Knew it. Just like Glen. What happened, you get caught behind the Barrier?"'

"You kidding?" River person said, pulling back his hood to reveal sandy blonde hair and pointed ears. "I'm the one who put it there. Sure brought the tensions to a halt."

"Yes, and imprisoned a bunch of monsters."

"Yes, and protected them from the humans blasting themselves into oblivion. It was a hard choice, but better this than life in apocalyptia, right?" River person sighed and held out his hand. "Gerald's the name."

"Gerald Adams?"

"Er, no. Gerald Nerik."

"Gerald Ner-" Sans chuckled and shook his head. "G. Nerik. I like it. You ever heard of Glen Adams?"

"You know Glen?" Gerald said, his blue eyes wide. "Wow. He trained me, y'know. Taught me everything I know. Last I heard, he was working on some world called 'Vinta'. Mind you, that was before the Barrier went up."

They watched the castle entrance in silence for a few moments before Gerald asked, "So the dimensional-hopping thing ... is that for real?"

Sans pulled the crystal out of his pocket and handed it to the Dreamer. "Look in this."

Gerald frowned and squinted into the crystal for a few moments. The moment his rune-hand touched the crystal, however, the imprint within began to glow faintly.

"Whoa." Gerald said. "What left the imprint?"

"Glen ... well, my Glen called it the Inverse Harmonius."

Gerald's eyes went wide. "Whoa! So it is real ... travel between dimensions. It sounds ..."

Sans watched as Gerald seemed to sift through his mind for the proper adjective before finally settling on, "complicated."

Sans chuckled as he slipped the crystal back in his pocket. "My Glen thinks it's down here somewhere ... well, part of it anyway."

"A part would be enough." Gerald said. "Transit would be rough, but you could do it. Where is it anyway?"

"No idea." Sans said truthfully. "When we found it, it was in this crystal; that's how it left the impression."

"So you're using magical power to fill the impression and temporarily create the rune yourself." Gerald nodded, looking impressed. "Good thinking. What happened to the fragment itself though?"

"Like I said, no idea. We had it hooked up to a machine, but when I tried to use it to save someone, the fragment vanished." And the person, Sans thought to himself.

"Hmm." Gerald scratched his head. "Very strange. Y'know, with the souls inaccessible, you're gonna have a hell of a time putting enough power into that thing ... unless ..."

"Unless?" Sans asked.

Gerald looked him in the eye. "Do you trust me with it? The crystal, I mean?"

Sans shrugged and handed it over. "If you can make it work, by all means. I won't make it shard on you."

Gerald chuckled and shook his head. "Boo. All right; I'm going to head back to the rebel base and see if I'm right ... unless you'd rather I-"

"Go on!" Sans said, shooing the Dreamer. "Go tear a hole in the universe so we can get the hell outta this dump!"

"Righto." With a final salute, Gerald vanished.

Sans waited in silence for what felt like a small eternity. Someone would walk through that corridor sooner or later; he hoped it was Grillby, but if it wasn't, Sans was going to do his best to make sure they never stepped past the threshold into New Home.

He readied himself as the corridor slowly filled with an unsteady light. Someone was approaching ... but was the light from Grillby's flames, or from some manner of torch Alphys carried?

Sans felt a wave of relief wash over him as Grillby emerged from the corner and moved toward the courtyard. His relief faded quickly, Grillby staggered as he walked, bits of flames falling from him as he made his way down the corridor. Several spears were still sticking through his chest, and the flames of his right arm stopped just past his elbow.

Sans moved to help him, but was quickly pushed away by the heat; it was like opening the oven and getting a facefull of superheated air, only over his whole body.

"Hang on!" Sans gestured to the spears, pulling them out one by one and tossing them aside. Grillby winced with every spear, but once they were all out, Sans saw his flames crawl down his stump of an arm, restoring the rest. Despite this, however, Grillby still seemed on the verge of collapse.

"Grillby!" Sans said as his old friend stumbled and fell to his knees. "What's wrong?"

"It's the human soul!" Grillby said, clutching his chest. "It's too much ... to much for me. I can't hold on!"

"Then let it go!" Sans said.

"It ... it won't survive." Grillby said, his light growing brighter. Sans stepped back to avoid the rising heat. "I've used too much of its power. It's falling apart, trying to merge fully with mine, but ... but I can't contain it."

"That's determination for you." Sans said, "Forget the damn soul!"

"But without it ..."

"You're more important than the soul! Besides, with the heat you're putting out, no one will be able to get near you without turning extra crispy! We'll find another way. Let it go!"

Grillby stared at Sans for a moment before struggling to his feet. Sans stepped further back, holding his breath despite his lack of lungs. The flames surged around Grillby, the heat nearly overwhelming ... and a moment later, the heat was gone. The orange soul separated from Grillby and rose in the air, spinning a few times before cracks shot across its surface. With the sound of breaking glass, the soul shattered into a thousand pieces.

Sans caught GRillby before he could collapse. "Good thing I took the spears out first." Sans said, helping his purple-flamed friend stay on his feet. "Still, I gotta hand it to you; you did it. You beat Alphys."

Grillby shook his head. "Not ... not completely. I managed to shatter her soul container ... I thought that would be it, but ..."

"But? Hey! Hey, stay a ..." Sans stopped as Grillby's head lolled on his shoulder. The flame man was out cold.

Sans started to carry Grillby toward New Home when he heard something that made him freeze.

"Sssaannnnnnsss ..."

Sans slowly turned to see Alphys at the end of the hallway ... but whereas Grillby looked rough, Alphys looked to be completely falling apart. Her face seemed to have partially slid from it's skull, the exposed section looking more like Undyne. Their combined face was a mess of sharp teeth and scales, and their whole body looked on the verge of melting into one heap, but that wasn't what filled Sans with fear; pouring from the hole in the soul container was a thick black viscous liquid that was all too familiar.

"The ichor." Sans whispered. "You musta tried to control it ... but how in the hell did it get here?"

"Lllllaazzyyy Ssaannnsss," They whispered, their voices sounding as though both sides were struggling for control. "Caaaaannn't eeeessscaaaape ..."

"Like hell I can't." Sans said. "You certainly ain't catching me, jelly legs."'

The corrupted Alphys and Undyne monstrosity's knee collapsed with a wet slap like a steak tossed onto a grill. As it held itself from the ground with a rapidly deteriorating arm, however, the thing began to laugh.

"Noonnnee willllll eeeeessscaaaape. All will faaalll to darrrknnnesssss." After the final word, the thing vomited out a torrent of ichor, far more than its misshapen body should have contained. The black liquid spread across the ground with frightening speed, as though it were eager to consume Sans.

Now little more than a lump of misshapen goo, the thing that had been Alphys and Undyne let out one soggy laugh before finally collapsing into the flood of ichor. Sans didn't stay to watch; hoisting Grillby over his shoulders, Sans took off running as fast as his short legs could carry him.

He made it a few streets before he heard the sound of rushing liquid. The ichor was flooding through New Home at an alarming rate; whatever was feeding it clearly was making its final play. It wasn't quite as fast as running water, but it represented clear obstacles to his passage. It almost seemed intelligent in the way it blocked certain alleyways, passages, and roads. It really seemed to be hunting him, trying to cut him off and trap him.

Fortunately, it didn't seem to realize how tricky he could be. Sans had to call on his Gaster Blaster more than once, not as a weapon but as a platform ... and once as a transport. From a higher perspective, he saw what he feared; while the ichor was mostly along his path, it was spreading through the rest of the city.

By the time Sans reached the building that housed the rebel headquarters, Sans wasn't much better than Grillby. He stumbled into the building and slammed the door; setting down Grillby, Sans struggled with a crate until it was pressed against the door. It wouldn't stop the ichor, but it would at least stem the flow ... and if the stuff was intelligent, turning the door wouldn't give it the instant access it sought.

Sans turned to pick up Grillby only to find Wolfred and Fuku heading his way.

"Sans! DAD!" Fuku's eyes widened at the sight of her unconscious father. She hugged his side, murmuring, "Oh, dad ... mom always said you were a hothead."

Wolfred glanced at Sans, who gave him a tired nod. "He's okay. He couldn't hold the human soul, though; apparently the fight took too much out of him."

"Then why were you running?" Wolfred asked.

Sans started to reply, when he spotted a trail of black ichor creeping through the door, mere inches from his hand. He leapt to his feet with a yelp, his lethargy amazingly absent after the threat of contamination.

"We gotta move." Sans said. "This stuff is all over the place out there; whatever you do, don't touch it!"

He started toward the basement, but Wolfred caught his arm. "Nah, River Person's got 'em up on the roof."

"He does?" Sans grinned to himself. "Clever Dreamer. All right."

Wolfred picked up Grillby and led the group through the basement to the steamer trunk that hid the entrance. Sans shot Fuku a concerned look, but her father's state had her withdrawn. He should have said something reassuring to her, but his mind was a little too busy being worried about the ichor. How much of it could their be? Was it being generated somehow? How did Alphys get it, and even more curious, how did she find a way to control it, if only for awhile? Was Chara the source, or simply another infected?

He nearly jumped out of his coat when Fuku's hand touched his. She quickly pulled her hand back, concern on her face. "Sans, are you all right? You looked like you were a million miles away?"

"Yeah." He said, giving her a smile. "Just thinkin', that's all. Frisk and Chara doin' okay?"

"They're worried. The Queen's doing better; she hasn't said much, though."

"I'm not surprised. That's not the kind of would magic can heal." Sans blushed, realizing how pretentious he sounded.

Fuku leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Sans was surprised when he felt it sting sharply for a moment, only for Fuku's healing magic to wash over him.

"What was that?"

She smiled at him, but said nothing. Baffled, he continued following her and Wolfred.

The remaining rebels and what appeared to be some of the monsters from New Home were gathered on the roof. Toriel sat against the lip of the building's outer edge, where one of Snowdin's bunny folk was attending to her. Asriel and Frisk, the latter with a blue face and what looked to be the end of a mop on her head.

"Hey, kid. You okay?" When Frisk nodded, Sans said, "'Cause you look a little blue."

She giggled before grabbing his hand. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah.' Frisk's eyes darted a little to the side, her smile widening. She was soon overcome with the giggles, though Sans had no idea why.

Sans nodded at Toriel, who watched the exchange in silence. "How about you, your majesty?"

"Goodness, no," She said with a small grin, "The paint would stick to my fur something awful."

Sans laughed, as did Fuku as Wolfred set Grillby beside Toriel for the healer. "Glad to see you stuck with us."

Toriel sighed, her smile fading. "I ... I still can't believe Asgore is dead."

Asriel grabbed her hand. One look at his earnest expression made Toriel's face light up. Hugging her son close despite the annoyed sigh of the bunny woman healer, Toriel said, "I'll do better this time."

After a moment, she drew Frisk in for a hug as well, despite the blue paint. "I'll do better for both of you.

"Good." Sans said, in truth simply glad to see the three of them happy. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've goat to see about getting us out of here. Fuku?"

"I want to stay with dad." She said, already sitting beside him. "Besides, Rahnna might need help."

"I certainly do." the bunny woman said, giving her an approving nod. "You'd think they'd have recruited more healers. Hmpf."

With his friends in safe care (and some providing it), Sans and Wolfred quickly found River Person still examining the crystal with the imprint.

"Hello again." Gerald said as they approached. "Glad to see ol' Grillby make it. You have any trouble?"

"Yeah, a bit." Sans said, "Take a look over the wall."

Gerald barely spared it a glance. "Wolfred, grab a few of the uninjured to keep an eye on that stuff. I can't imagine there's an endless amount of it, but I'd like to know how far we are from it."

"Make sure no one touches it." Sans warned again as Wolfred departed. Turning to Gerald, Sans said, "That stuff was in my dimension too; not in these amounts, but it was there."

"Well, there are probably some correlations between dimensions." Gerald said, turning the crystal in his hands. "Common threads, key players, that sort of thing. I wouldn't worry too much; besides, we still need to figure out-"

"River Person!" Wolfred called out. "You're gonna want to see this!"

Giving Sans a puzzled look, Gerald hurried over to Wolfred with Sans following behind.

Wolfred stood near the edge of the building, one clawed hand pointing down. Sans peered over the edge and immediately saw the problem. While the ichor was about level with the second story of the building, it seemed that some of it was actually creeping up the walls.

"Might wanna add a watcher on the stairs." Sans said, trying to ignore the drea in his stomach.

"All right." Gerald said, "Let's get this thing going. How does it work, Sans?"

Sans stared back at him for a few moments. "Me? I thought you knew about this thing?"

"I've heard about it, yeah. I've also heard about the Tooth Fairy; it was just a legend, man."

Sighing, Sans said, "I managed to get it to work by pouring magical energy into the imprint itself."

"Temporarily recreating the fragment." Gerald said, nodding. "But anything that alters reality needs a lot of power."

"Yeah, well I tapped into the core last time, and it wasn't enough. I could probably tap it directly, but we can't even reach the core with the ichor in the way."

"So you need power." Gerald said.

"Right. So can you , uh, Dreamer it or something?"

Gerald shook his head. "I invoke the Anti-ka Maru on this thing, and it's going to make a big problem. It's power, and I'm sure it'll work, but you have to understand; invoking like that created infinite power for a finite amount of time. It'd be like ... like swatting a fly with an orbital death ray. We'd be opening up dimensional portals all over the place."

"We'd be infecting all of them." Sans sighed. "The rune itself produced its own power; I remember, that's why we used it. Magic seems to work; we just need more of it."

"It's up to the third floor." Wolfred said.

Gerald held the crystal in his hands and appeared to concentrate. The imprint glowed, but apparently made the crystal red-hot as well. He dropped it with a yelp, fortunately, managing to move his foot to soften the landing. It hit the top of River Person's shoe and clattered across the roof a few feet before Sans stopped it with his telekinesis.

"Damn." Gerald said, shaking his hand. "That's the problem with dream energy; it takes random forms.

A pair of small hands took the crystal with the imprint. Frisk held out the crystal to Sans, her blue-painted face giving him an encouraging smile. "Is there something I can do to help?"

"Thanks, Frisk." He said, putting his hand on the crystal, only to freeze. The imprint was glowing brightly, even more brightly than when Gerald held it. Sans could feel the power within the reconstructed rune fragment already stretching the barrier.

"Kid," Sans whispered, "How are you doing that?"

"Doing what?" She asked, still looking perplexed.

"Of course." Gerald whispered. "The Inverse is like the Anti-ka Maru; it's driven by strength of will, by ..."

"Determination." Sans said as others gathered around them.

Frisk looked a little scared, but didn't move. Sans put his hands over hers and said, "Can you see the other dimensions yet?"

"Yes." She whispered, eyes flicking from side to side. "There are so many!"

"I know." Sans said. "We need to find the one with the woman in the green and gray-striped shirt. She has brown hair in a long ponytail, and blue-jean shorts. Try to focus on her image."

"River Person!" Wolfred shouted, "It's speeding up! Whatever you're doing, it's definitely affecting the crud!"

Sans remained silent as Frisk's eyes continued to see other dimensions. He hoped that he might be able to help, but as the seconds passed and Wolfred reported the continuing encroachment of the ichor, desperation set in.

"All right." Sans said, "Forget about the woman; just find somewhere safe. Somewhere nice, somewhere that will welcome us!"

Nodding, she bit her lip and closed her eyes.

The opening of a dimensional rift should've had a more impressive sound, Sans thought looking back on it. He didn't remember the sound the previous time he's slipped between worlds, but he was pretty sure it hadn't sounded like someone tearing a piece of paper. Whatever the sound, however, it worked; a large hole appeared in the center of the roof displaying what appeared to be a large kitchen.

And doubts Sans had were immediately laid to rest when he heard a familiar voice shout, "Sans!"

Papyrus walked into view, a chef's hat on his head and a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon in it in his arms. "Oh my god, Sans, we're trying to record here! I told you to keep your silly shortcuts off of my program! I ..."

Papyrus stopped. It wasn't just the tears in Sans's eyes, though definitely caused the alternate version of his brother some alarm. Papyrus's eye-sockets swept over the rooftop, taking in all the faces; some were afraid and worried (small surprise, seeing what their Papyrus had done), while others looked hopeful.

"You're in trouble!" Papyrus said, putting down the bowl and stepping through the hole. "In dire trouble! I haven't seen looks like that since the last live audience happened to become ill completely and utterly by chance after sampling my latest masterpiece!"

"Pap." Sans said, not even sure how to react. It wasn't his Papyrus, yet the way he talked, the way he looked ... they could've been twins.

"No arguments!" Papyrus insisted. "I am a Junior Knight, after all! It's my duty to help people, so come on, everyone! Get inside my studio!"

The assembled crowd needed no further convincing. They filed through, Papyrus helping some who had difficulty walking. There was plenty of room in the studio, as the seating was currently empty, save for a few camera operators. Sans suspected the signs in front of the doors labeled "Do not enter: filming for syndication" might have something to do with that. Whatever other questions he had were being put aside; Sans would have to answer them later, but he would do so gladly ... safely in their universe.

As Fuku helped her father through the portal, Mettaton's head tucked under her free arm, Sans shouted, "Yo, Wolfred! Grab your guys and get outta here!"

"What about you? That ichor's only a few feet away!"

"I'll bring the kid through last! Now hurry up!"

Frisk seemed no worse for wear, though she did seem a little sleepy. Sans couldn't blame her; just trying to create the dimensional rip had tuckered him out, and he'd been siphoning energy from the core.

"All right!" Papyrus said once Wolfred and the other monsters were safely on the other side. "No more dawdling! Get over here this instant!"

"You got it Pap." Sans said, getting ready to pick her up. As he picked up her small body, however, a voice Sans hadn't expected to hear again called out, "WAIT!"

Sans's eyes widened as he spotted the Gaster Blaster flying through the air at frightening speed, the figure of NegaSans riding. Sans picked up Frisk, but to his surprise, she said, "Wait!"

"Kid?" Sans said.

"Just … give him a chance. Please."

The Gaster Blaster was already showing dozens of cracks as it flew to the edge of the building. NegaSans must've kept it going for ages, Sans realized as it fell to pieces, unceremoniously dropping NegaSans on the roof of the building.

"Please …" NegaSans panted, his red eyes full of desperation. "Take me with you!"

Sans stared at him for a long moment in surprise before finally saying, "You? That's one joke I ain't laughin' at. You stood by and watched your brother murder innocent monsters!"

"I didn't have a choice!" NegaSans said.

"Of course you had a choice! You could've stood up and stopped him! But no, you were too lazy, too busy feelin' sorry for yourself and too stupid to realize the problem until it was too late!"

"I know …" NegaSans said, his eyes on the roof of the building. "And when I realized you were tellin' the truth, that you were from another dimension, I told myself it was impossible! I was stuck here, and deep inside, I knew I deserved it."

Looking up at Frisk, NegaSans said, "But then I spoke with the kid. Even though she was in a cage, she listened. Even though she had no reason to be anything but terrified of me, she treated me with kindness and mercy, and that made me remember …"

"Remember what?" Sans asked.

NegaSans looked Sans in the eye, his expression sad. "When I was like you."

Sans stared at the alternate version of himself. It was the one thing he hadn't wanted to admit; the one thing he'd forced himself not to consider; that deep inside, there was no real difference between himself and NegaSans; they were simply products of their dimensions. A twist of fate, and they'd be the same.

Sans's accusing words came back and hit him, their meaning just as poignant on him as they were on NegaSans. Deep inside he knew he hadn't been judging NegaSans, not really; he'd been judging himself. What happened in his dimension was his fault; had he taken a stand earlier … had he rallied the other monsters before possessed Frisk gained power, it wouldn't have mattered how many resets there were. Perhaps even the resets could've been stopped had Alphys, or Asgore, or anyone had known what was wrong.

"Sans …" Frisk said, one of her hands resting on his. "Please. I was scared, and he made me feel better. He told me you'd be on the way."

"And I was right." NegaSans said, smiling a little. "I'd have freed her myself, but … well, you were coming, and I had a little unfinished business."  
"Unfinished business?" Sans asked curiously.

NegaSans held up the familiar skull of NegaPapyrus. He was gagged, and did not look happy. Fortunately, as a skeleton, he did not require his entire body to remain alive.

"Found him in the tar pit below the ice puzzle." NegaSans said cheerily. "Nothing to be done; definitely no time to retrieve the body."

Sans couldn't help it; he finally cracked a smile and let out a laugh. The head of NegaPapyrus did not look amused.

"So how about it?" NegaSans said, an apologetic smile on his face as he held out a hand, unaware of the ichor creeping mere feet away from him. "Can you find it in your soul to forgive me, buddy?"

Sans stared at the hand for a moment before grasping it firmly in his own. Picking up Frisk with his other hand, the three (well, technically four) of them passed through the dimensional rip into the other dimension. Once through, Frisk let out a sigh and fell asleep on Sans's shoulder, the rip closing again the moment her eyes shut, mere moments before the ichor claimed the entire building.

Sans let out a deep breath. Finally it was over. Finally, they were safe.

"SANS!"

From the ichor, anyway. Papyrus marched over to them, Toriel and Fuku not far behind. Toriel's hands went to her mouth, her eyes wide in shock.

"She's fine." Sans said, passing Frisk to the Bossun woman. "Just needs some sleep."

"Some sleep and a good meal when she awakens." Toriel said, rubbing the back of Frisk's head with gentle claws. "Oh, goodness; we could all use a hearty meal. I'd better get to work."

Sans watched as she carefully laid Frisk in one of the cushioned audience seats before returning to the kitchen, where she started gathering bowls and utensils. Rahnna chased after her, the bunny healer trying to make her patient relax in vain before eventually sighing and assisting.

"Sans, and …" Papyrus stared at NegaSans for a moment before saying, "Other Sans … now will one of you explain just what in the samhill is going on? And why is the Queen using my kitchen? Just what mischief are you up to?"

The sight of indignant Papyrus with his chef's hat and goofy apron proclaiming, "MASTER SPAGGETTOR" was simply too much. Sans and NegaSans exchanged a look before laughing, much to Papyrus's annoyance.


	46. Chapter 45 - Quick Time Event

**Chapter 45**

 **Morality**

Asriel and Golemite told most of the story, Shye filling in for a few parts. While avoiding mention of the Everstar, they told the metal creator about Nowhere and the Skyway, and their journey to investigate the lands beyond the known boundaries of the Deep.

Archie listened intently, even as he repaired the creatures of the Precious Meadows. He was incredibly quick, processing over fifty ferrous ferrets, twenty-six copper chickens, and more butterflies than Asriel could count.

Their tale drew to an end, however, with a familiar chime. Papyrus pulled out a pocket watch similar to that carried by his brother. He frowned at the face before tucking it away in one of the many compartments of his body.

"My apologies." He said, "Shift change."

"Huh?' Golemite said, scratching her hair. Asriel couldn't fathom how his friend had yet to realize her transformation. Surely she could feel the hair, or the sensation of her face moving, or the weight of the big round ... additions.

"I'm sorry." Archie said, rising to his feet. "As much as I hate to subject such kind guests to the whims of my brother, it's his turn."

He walked to the two chairs and sat down with a sigh. After a few moments of silence, light flared around them as the Everstar slowly passed from one to the other.

Golemite's hand grabbed Asriel's shoulder. "Azzie!"

"I see it.' Asriel said.

"It's a shard of the Everstar!"

"I know."

"The Everstar?" Shye asked, eyes wide. "You mean the grant-a-wish Everstar?"

She looked at the shard, temptation in her eyes for only a moment. Shaking her head, she said, "Probably wouldn't work anyway.'

Asriel understood the truth. She wasn't willing to trade the life of the brothers for a wish.

"Are you?" whispered part of Asriel that sounded far too much like Flowey.

Asriel was still contemplating this when Beget came to life. After a mighty yawn, he turned his wide smile on Asriel, Shye, and Golemite. Once again, Asriel was struck with the similariy between Beget and Sans. It couldn't be a coincidence, not after everything he'd been through.

"So," Beget said, rising from his chair. "You're explorers, eh?"

"How do you know that?" Shye asked.

"One of the benefits of sharing a soul." Beget said with a shrug. "What one of us knows, the other does as well. Feel free to continue."

"Oh." Asriel said, "Well, um, that's pretty much it. We're making our way around the Deep to see what's out here."

"Must be nice." Beget said, sounding a little sad. Shaking his head, Beget turned to Golemite and said, "Well, I see you're finally up and around."

"Thanks ta you, I hear." Golemite said.

"Any problems?" Beget asked, grin widening.

Golemite shook her head. "I feel great. Bettah than great. Haven't had this kinda movement since I lived in the Underground."

Beget's gaze slipped to Asriel. Asriel could only shrug. Apparently that was enough to convey the situation; namely that Golemite hadn't noticed her change, and no one wanted to be the one to tell her.

Chuckling, Beget said, "Well, I'm glad I could help. Next time you go picking on my crittaceans, you may not be so lady."

"Lady?"

"Lucky." Beget said with a shrug. "Sorry; slip of the tongue. Well, my brother and I are glad you're here. Now that we are properly linked to the Skyway, we'll likely see more travellers. That's good; plenty of space, and so far everyone who's made it this far has decided to stay."

Beget paused, his blue eye shining brightly for a moment. "Ah, speaking of which, I got work to do. Feel free to follow if you wanna see a real creator at work."

Intruiged, Asriel followed the short tin man down the stairs into the messier of the workshops.

"Now my brother's cool and all, but between you and me, his focus is a bit narrow. I'm all for fixing our little friends, but what i love more than anything is making new ones. See, our Precious Meadows are what you might call a work in progress; the land, the plantlife, and creatures that live here."

He swept his hand across his vision; just as in the floor above, the outer walls of the Serenity Spire moved away to reveal an outside view. They were deep into the Precious Meadows now, where the Brass Woods were little more than a glimmering line on the horizon.

Below them was the beginnings of a village; the skeletons of buildings slowly being assembled by the monsters below. Not just monsters, however; large elephants with shining flanks of steel moved heavy materials, crittaceans climbed straight up metal girders fastening rivets. Large lumbering creatures with four stilt-like legs and bark-like skin moved about, planks and beams around them floating as though via telekinesis.

"The new city of Glencove." Beget said proudly. "We offered them a place closer to the Brass Woods, but when they saw the other towns, they wanted to be closer."

"Other towns?" Shye asked.

Beget nodded. "Of course. Dahllen, Lyrrana, Bellfast ... there are quite a few towns the closer you get to the middle of the Precious meadows. Mind you, this is the first time we've had a whole city to move; I built the first towns just to try out a few ideas on possible homes for future residents; underground structures, tree houses, floating platforms ... just wanted to work on something different really."

He smiled to himself as he stared out over the construction of the city. "Who knew people would come by and actually want to live there? A few wanderers here and there, and suddenly we had residents. It's been a big help; there's a lotta stuff needin' to be fixed for just my brother and me to be doin' the fixin'."

Picking up a small delicate tool, Beget said, "Their assistance gives us a chance to continue our work. There's still so much left here to build, so many new creatures needin' to be created."

Snapping his metal fingers, Beget turned to Shye and said, "Say; would you like to try?"

"Try what?" Shye said curiously.

"Try making a new creature for the Precious Meadow." Beget said. "It's not hard; I'll do all the work. I'll show you what parts we have, and you can tell me what you like. I'm always lookin' for fresh ideas, and you seem a clever girl."

"True." Shye said, rubbing her chin. "All right."

Asriel was eager to watch, but realized he wouldn't be getting the chance when Golemite's hand came to rest on his shoulder.

"Say, I need to cover some Skyway stuff with Azzie." Golemite said. "You mind?"

"No problem." Beget said. "You know where we'll be. You can use my brother's workshop. Just don't touch anything; my brother's great, but he can get a little touchy about people movin' his stuff."

Asriel and Golemite ascended to Archie's workshop. When Golemite came to a halt beside the twin chairs, Asriel said quickly, "I'm sorry, but we didn't even realize you'd been injured, let alone that they'd picked you up and-"

"Huh? Azzie, I'm fine. My fault for runnin' off." Golemite said, once again misunderstanding. "Dis ain't about dat. We gotta talk about the Everstar ting."

Asriel sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I know."

"I mean, I look at what dees guys are doin', and it's great, yeah? Dis place is amazin'. Heck, if I'd know dey could fix me up so well, I'da come here ages ago. I feel great."

"You've never looked better." Asriel said, a faint smile on his face.

"Ting is, I know you wanna go home. Dat means you need da Everstar."

"I know." Asriel said, hanging his head. "And honestly, I don't know what to do."

Golemite sighed and knelt down beside Asriel. After a moment of staring at Asriel's chest, she adjusted her posture. "Sorry; you must be growin' or somethin'. Anyway, what I wanted to say was that I'm with whatevah you decide."

Asriel turned to Archie's still form. "This would be easier if they didn't look so much like them."

"Like who?" Golemite asked.

"Sans and Papyrus." Asriel said. "Two skeletons I met in the Underground. They even act the same; Archie's got the energy and the sense of duty, Beget's more laid back and moves at his own pace. Despite their bickering about their counterpart, you get the feeling they care about each other."

"Yeah." Golemite said. "I got that too. You notice how neither one of 'em waited a second before respondin' to the switchover chime thing. It's just a shame they gotta live like this."

"Yeah." Asriel said quietly.

They stared at the chairs for a long time before they heard Shye shout, "Golemette! Asriel! Come see!"

"My name is Golemite." Golemite muttered, sounding annoyed.

They found Shye and Beget at the same workbench, a three-eyed catlike creature made of ebony sitting before them, licking its paws.

"You made a three-eyed cat." Golemite said. "Very original."

Shye punched Golemite in the arm, despite the fact it would only hurt her. "Ow! It's not just a cat! Watch!'

She moved away from the table and held out her arms. "C'mere, Mina!"

The kitten let out a meow before crouching down, wiggling her tail and hind end for a moment, and leaping into the air, where thin membranes between its arms and legs spread out, allowing her to glide to Shye in a manner similar to that of a flying squirrel.

"Good girl!" Shye said, rubbing Mina's dark fur. Mina purred loudly, the sound similar to a pepper grinder in use.

"Three eyes will give them excellent depth perception, and the ability to glide should come in handy." Beget said, looking pleased. "Small stomach and ability to process metal and vegetative matter means they'll help spread the local fruit trees, as well as cut down on wasted fruit."

"Great." Golemite said. "So it can jump on things and crap. Very impressive."

Beget frowned at her before turning back to Shye with a smile. "Thank you, Shye; why not keep the first? I'll run you through how to take care of her while I make more.

"Oh, yes! Thank you!" Shye said, hugging little Mina.

"As for you two," Beget said, "We have some rooms set up for our occasional visitors. Nothing fancy mind; but theres one for you and the lady."

Asriel tensed, only for Golemite to rub his fluffy ears and say, "Yeah, Azzie looks kinda cute, but he's really a boy."

"Really." Beget said as Shye giggled. "That's hilarious. Well, I'll show you to the quarters, after a quick stop by our vegetative constructors; I'd imagine you bioforms will want food."

"Not just the bioforms." Golemite said, rubbing her muscular stomach.

The quarters were very basic; little more than a cushioned bed and a small empty workbench, but Asriel was too tired to care. He fell into a deep sleep within moments of laying down. By the time he woke up, whatever provided the sunlight of the Precious Meadow was once again gone, replaced by the twin moons. Asriel rose from his bed and stepped out of his chamber.

From the sound of snoring in the next room, Golemite was still sound asleep. His ears picked up soft breathing from another of the rooms, likely Shye. As he thought this, the door creaked open to reveal a small three-eyed feline face that looked up at him and meowed curiously.

"Hey, Mina." Asriel said, kneeling down to pet the little cat-like creature. She rubbed against his hand a few times before leaping onto his arm and climbing on his shoulder. After a cursory examination of his head, she hopped back to the ground and let out a soft meow before running toward the stairs.

"Hey!" Asriel said, "Where are you going?"

The feline didn't stop; she ran up the staircase as though chasing something, leaving Asriel to follow.

As he returned to Beget's workshop, he was surprised to see the skeleton busily working at one of the benches, a small pride of the cat-like creatures all perched around him.

"Ah, he awakens." Beget said, still working. "Archie wanted me to tell you hello. You slept through his last shift, I'm afraid."

"How long have I been asleep?" Asriel asked.

"Oh, about fifteen hours." Chuckling as though he knew Asriel now wore a shocked expression, Beget said, "The beds are designed to induce deep and restful sleep. I might've overdone it just a bit."

"Maybe a bit." Asriel said, sitting on a stool beside the workbench. He watched with interest as Beget assembled another of the cat creatures, his hands moving quickly to transform blocks of materials into fur, bones, and skin. In less than a minute, a calico variant sat on the table, asleep.

"Still tryin' to think up a good name." Beget said as he started on another one. "Kitterkats? Pouncers?"

Asriel shrugged. "Flynx?"

"Fl- heh. Cute. I like it." Beget chuckled for a few moments before falling silent. "Asriel, isn't it?"

"That's me." Asriel said.

"You're lucky, you know. To be able to go out and explore the Deep like this. I love the Precious Meadows, but if I had the option, I'd be out there too, checking it all out."

After a few moments of silence broken only by the clink of tools, Asriel asked, "Why don't you?"

Beget sighed. Once he finished his current flynx, he set down his tools. "You mind comin' with me a minute?"

"Sure." Asriel said.

The short tinman led Asriel back into Archie's workshop, right to the twin chairs where Archie currently rested.

"It's been like this since we were first came into being." Beget said. "Me and Archie, and these damn chairs. Yes, we share memories, but the truth is, we only talk to each other in notes. All these years, and I've never really met my brother."

Turning to Asriel, he said, "But he is still my brother, and I care about him. I care about the Precious Meadow. If I took the shard of the Everstar and left ... and yes, I know what it is ... I could leave Serenity Spire and go anywhere ... and believe me, I have that thought every day."

After a long moment of silence, Beget sighed and rubbed his metal forehead. "Without the shard present within the spire, this whole place could very well simply stop. No Archie or Beget to repair damaged animals, or make new ones, or anything. Maybe the people we've taught, the people who live here could take over repairs ... or maybe this whole place would fall to ruin. Truth is, none of that bothers me as much as the big thing."

Beget put his hand on Archie's. "I'd be abandoning my brother. He'd never get to move again, never live again. No more notes about my messes or collaborations or about something funny he discovered while working. Then I think about it and realize he must've come to the same conclusion; after all, he's still here, isn't he?"

They both stared at the chairs for a long time.

"And now you're here." Beget said. Without a word, he touched his chest. The Everstar fragment glowed, as did the shards in Asriel's chest.

"You carry a shard too." Beget said. "And I'll admit, when I felt its presence, part of me thought of taking the opportunity. One more shard, and my brother and I could work together, truly together. No more back and forth; we'd be free to stay here or depart as we wish; as long as one of us remained, the Precious Meadows would be okay. Maybe we could even take turns. Archie would like that; I know he wants to see his work up close, not through the damn windows."

Beget stared at Asriel, and for a moment, Asriel thought he might have made a fatal error. The sight of Sans's face with its glowing blue eye was never a comforting one.

The light in the blue eye died. "But then, what of your Precious Meadow? What of the things you could do? You need your shard as much as I do. Could I take someone else's life for my own selfish purposes? No. I'd rather stay like we are forever than do that."

Another long silence passed before Beget said, "Which brings us to why you really came here. It might interest you to know that even while inactive, our bodies are still capable of hearing."

"Then you heard Golemite and I talking about it." Asriel said as a sick feeling rose in his stomach."

Beget nodded. "You seek to complete the Everstar, which means you need our piece too."

The chime sounded. Beget stared at Asriel for a moment longer before slowly climbing into his chair.

"That's why I gave Mina the imperative to bring you here, right now." Beget said, "I don't want to die, but I am a creator, not a destroyer. If you wish to take the Everstar Shard, I ask that you show us the mercy of doing it now. Let my brother and I die together."

"Beget-" Asriel said, reaching forward, but it was too late. Beget sat back and closed his eyes.

This was the moment. Asriel had to make his choice, and he had to make it fast, as the shard was already leaving Beget.

"Take it." Flowey whispered in his mind. "Take the shard. Its why you came here."

"I don't want to hurt anyone else." Asriel said.

"Who do you think you're kidding? You came here to take that shard! That's why you brought the swords!"

"I brought them to protect myself!" Asriel said. "But Archie and Beget aren't a threat! They could've killed me while I was asleep, or attacked me on sight, but they didn't! They just want to live in peace!"

"And all you want is to return to your family! Is that so wrong? You heard what Beget said; the people living here could probably keep this place goin' just fine!"

"But I'd be killing Archie and Beget!"

"Killing schmilling, they aren't even alive!"

"How can you say that after everything they've done?"

"Listen, if you're really going to be such a bleeding heart about it, then you can go and find another power source for them ... after you have your soul!"

Asriel stared at the floating Everstar shard for a moment before shaking his head. "No."

"Don't be stupid! Take it now, while you have a chance! Take it! TAKE IT! TAKE-"

Asriel's hand shot out as though of its own accord, stopping the Everstar. The glowing shard pulsed softly, the warmth permeating his hand.

"Yes." Flowey whispered in his ear. "Yes! Now take it!"

It would be so easy, Asriel realized. All he had to do was close his hand. He could feel the power of the shard resonating with the shards within him, each seperate but eager to join together.

Even as that thought passed through his mind, another followed, this one of Sans and Papyrus, the skeleton brothers. They bickered at times, antagonized each other, but deep down they cared about each other deeply, just as Archie and Beget. How many times had he already seen them torn apart while he controlled the timelines? How many times had his determination brought them suffering?

"Not again." Asriel said quietly. "I've caused enough suffering. If i have to stay in the deep to make up for what I did ... so be it."

"Atonement? Really? You really think that being an idiot's gonna affect some kind of cosmic balance? That's crazy! In this world, you take what you can get!"

"No." Asriel repeated, his voice louder. "It's not mine ... and I only need one."

"You only need ... no! What are you doing?"

Asriel gasped as one of the two shards within him separated. It flowed down his arm and appeared in his cupped hand beside the brother's shard.

"No!" Flowey screamed in his ear. "You can't! YOU IDIOT!"

With a shudder, Asriel pulled away his hand. The shards floated between the chairs for a few moments, circling each other a few times before separating and floating opposite directions into the brothers.

Asriel took a step back as both brothers stiffened slightly and came to life. Beget was the first to awake. He seemed confused, at least until he turned and saw Archie standing up as well.

"What ... has happened?" Archie asked, sounding confused. "Beget's memories of the last shift didn't transfer. Something must be wrong."

"Archie?" Beget said, reaching for his brother with a shaking hand.

Archie turned and saw his brother, the light of his eyes brightening considerably. "Beget? You ... you're active too?" His eyes went from his own chest to Begets, where the two shards of the Everstar pulsed softly. But how ..."

Beget threw his arms around Archie's slender midsection. Archie slowly hugged his brother back, a smile on his face. After a few moments, he said, "Well ... perhaps now, we can finally have a proper conversation. We can start by talking about your little Heffalump experiment."

"Uh-oh." Beget said falling back into the chair. "I think I'm falling asleep again."

"Beget." Archie said, frowning. "Beget, you get up this instant!"

"Nope." Beget slumped in the chair, his legs over the armrest as he pretended to sleep, the big grin sabotaging any question as to him, actual slumbering. "Definitely feelin' sleepy."

"Beget, don't you dare!" Archie said, a small amount of steam escaping from his earholes. "We've got work to do! Beget, you get your lazy beams up this instant! Beget!"

Asriel quietly headed back to his room as the brothers continued arguing, the loss of the shard leaving him feeling tired once again. It was strange; he should've felt bad, having essentially given up his chance to get to the surface. The truth was, he actually felt happy. Sure, he'd miss his parents, Frisk, and the others, but he had a place in the Deep now, and it was such a wondrous place with new friends, fantastic places, and the tantalizing call of the unknown.

More than anything, however, he'd won; he'd beaten Flowey, and resisted selfish temptation. That alone made his chest swell. While he doubted he'd heard the last of his former self, the victory was oh so sweet.

Golemite was still snoring when Asriel reached the rooms. Smiling to himself, Asriel crept back into his room and closed the door quietly. Just as he started to lay down on his bed, something caught his eye on the wall. The polished metal was partially reflective, giving him a somewhat wobbly view of himself, but something seemed off.

Asriel approached the wall, squinting at his reflection until he realized it was the Everstar on his chest. The outline of the five-pointed star was still there, the center still bright ... only now, one of the points was glowing as well.

"Looks like you lucked out, brat." Flowey's voice whispered in Asriel's ear. "They get to live, and you still get a point for the effort."

Asriel froze; he could see the flower's reflection in the wall, feel its stem coiling around his arm. "You seem surprised. Silly Asriel; we're one and the same. You'll never be free of me. I'll be watching ... and waiting."

Asriel finally found the courage to turn his head, only to find nothing coiled around his arm or perched on his shoulder. There was no one else there; just him.


	47. Epilogue - Straight to the Point

**Epilogue**

 **Straight to the Point**

Frisk tiptoed through the field of snow poffs, her feet barely leaving impressions in the snow as she walked. She stopped beside one of the poffs, staring at it a moment before taking her stick and poking it with her stick.

Frowning, she continued through the field. As she passed one of many visually identical snow-poffs, it shifted ever so slightly. Frisk spun about and poked the poff with her stick. She was still poking when Jake leapt out of the snow-poff behind her and let out a bark.

Frisk shrieked as Jake's display bumped her just hard enough to knock her into the snow poff. She leapt out a moment later, covered in snow and giggling as she hugged Jake's monitor.

Sans emerged from another of the nearby snow poffs, chuckling himself.

"Wow. Your buddy here's a real pupsicle." Sans said as Frisk smashed a handful of snow on Jake's head.

Jake spun his monitor, making Frisk giggle all the louder.

Jake let out another bark before Frisk waved her hand in front of his display. She pointed at him, signaling that it was his turn.

Letting out an affirmative bark, Jake turned and buried his monitor in the side of one of the snow poffs, shutting off his audio sensors as Frisk ran off giggling. After thirty seconds, he set his audio sensors to half power and walked through the snow field slowly.

Normally, finding the small human or the skeleton would be simple; he did have thermal sensors, as well as the new thaumatic sensors Glen installed that would make a magical being like Sans light up like a flare. Still, Frisk seemed to enjoy the hiding game more when he seemed to have trouble; as a good KEI-9 unit, he gave himself a handicap.

This time, however, he made a full circuit through the field with no luck. Letting out a confused whine, he started to make another round when he heard a giggle from above.

Jake turned his gaze up to find Sans and Frisk sitting up in the branches of a nearby tree. Jake barked at them, wagging his tail.

"Sorry, Jake." Sans said with his usual grin. "Thought we'd branch out from the usual spots. Didn't mean to leaf you hanging."'

Jake barked again, front paws on the trunk of the tree.

"Hey, Frisk; how's a tree's bark like a dog's bark?" Sans asked. When Frisk shrugged, Sans said, "They're both ruff!"

Frisk giggled and shook her head at the skeleton. Sans grinned all the wider, but before he could say anything else, a loud, "SANS!" rang through the clearing.

Papyrus marched through the snowfield, an annoyed look on his skull. Jake wagged his tail as the tall skeleton approached, apparently not seeing his brother and Frisk through the snow.

"Oh. Hello, metal dog friend." Papyrus said, patting the top of Jake's monitor. "Have you seen little Frisk or that lazy brother of mine?"

Jake barked, but before he could indicate the tree, two snowballs hit the side of Papyrus's head. He glared up at the branches of the tree and said, "Sans! What are you doing up there?"

"Just breaking the root-ine."

"Oh my god, Sans!" Papyrus said as Frisk dissolved into giggles again. "I should've expected a corny line like that from you!"

"Acorny?"

"Yes, I ... THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID!"

"I dunno, bro, it sounded like that to me. Frisk?"

Frisk nodded along with Sans, a big grin on her small face.

Papyrus sighed and rubbed the top of his skull. "Would you please get out of that tree before you fall out and I have to carry you home?"

"Sure thing, bro." Sans said. He gestured to Frisk, who floated into the air and slowly fell into Papyrus's waiting hands.

He started to lower her to the ground, but she quickly climbed out of his grasp and sat on the back of his neck, her legs draped over his chest as she hugged his skull.

Sighing, Papyrus said, "Let's go home. I've got dinner already cooking."

Frisk pointed the opposite way, to the path that would eventually lead to the ruins.

"It's already past your bedtime, Frisk." Papyrus said. "We'll check the door again tomorrow morning, like we always do."

Frisk frowned and crossed her small arms.

"It's no good giving me that look." Papyrus told her. "You've been out quite long enough already."

"Don't worry about it, kid." Sans said, "Me and Jake'll go check it out. Right, boy?"

Jake let out an affirmative bark. Frisk didn't look completely happy with the decision, but she nodded and waved as Papyrus carried her toward Snowden.

"Sweet kid." Sans commented as he and Jake took the opposite path just long enough to get out of sight and shortcut to the entrance to the Ruins.

He gave his usual knock and when that failed to provoke a response, he told a few jokes only to again hear no response.

"And she was okay last you saw her?" Sans asked Jake, who barked and nodded his monitor.

"Hmm." Sans said, scratching his jaw. "Well, maybe she's been busy lately. I mean, it's been a month since we've traded jokes, but it wouldn't be the first time she didn't show up for awhile. Probably nothing to worry about."

Despite his words, Sans sounded worried. Jake would've agreed that the situations seemed suspicious had he been able to speak, especially seeing as his thermal sensors had on several occasions detected remnant warmth on the door. He'd even spied her footprints in the snow a few times, though by the time Sans or Papyrus arrived, any remaining footprints were long gone. Toriel seemed to genuinely care for Frisk; so why wouldn't she walk more than a few steps from the ruins?

It had been nearly a month since Jake and Frisk were locked out of the Ruins after the confrontation with Error!Sans. Poor little Frisk fell into a panic when they ran into the normal Sans, but the cheery skeleton had quickly won over the kind-hearted little girl. She in turn had quickly befriended both Sans and his brother, despite the fact the latter was charged with her capture. Papyrus seemed to get around this by considering her under his supervision, and thus technically his prisoner.

Sans tapped Jake's back. "Well, come on; we'll check again tomorrow. twenty-eighth time's the charm, right?"

Jake followed Sans through the Snowdin fields. Sans often took long walks during what passed as the Underground's 'night'. He claimed it helped him clear his thoughts. Jake often accompanied him on these walks, though not because of any actually physical need; Sans just liked an audience.

"Always wondered how they got those rocks to sparkle like that." Sans commented, staring up at the cavern ceiling where distant gems twinkled like stars. "I mean, someone had to go up there, right? Someone had to hollow all this out. Alphys says they did it as they went, but I just know someone's got a huge ladder tucked away somewhere."

Sans often rambled about things like that. Jake listened, though he understood little of it. He simply walked along and gave the occasional bark when it was expected. He scanned his surroundings out of what could be called boredom, though he'd already mapped the path between Snowdin and the Ruins so many times that he could likely walk it without visual aid.

Only this time, there was something different; as they passed the site of Papyrus's sliding switch puzzle, Jake caught a nearby power spike; it wasn't much, but given that the area was normally nothing but snow and stone, it was curious enough for Jake to veer away from Sans and follow the signal as Sans continued on, oblivious to the loss of his audience.

He walked down a long slope and through a narrow pass between two snow-covered cliffs before his sensors locked in on the object. It was lying on the snow, oddly enough.

Jake stopped; despite every sensor but his visuals indicating nothing was there, he could see a small shadowy figure sitting right where the power spike was located. Her features were hard to make out, but it seemed to be a little girl not far from Frisk's age. She was only there a moment, however, before vanishing without a trace.

Jake scanned the area a moment longer before slowly approaching the location of the power abnormality. It didn't register any heat; only energy in an extremely condensed form.

Only a few feet away, Jake stopped again, finding himself standing in a news studio where a bear in a suit was straightening his tie.

"Greetings, Underground! This is Jacob Bosley, bringing you the Underground Report. Big news today, as several refugees from another dimension were discovered on the set of Papyrus's Pasta Paradise. Not much is know, other than they were narrowly wiped out and barely managed to escape here."

"Director Mettaton has welcomed the newcomers with open arms. She was quoted as saying, "Well, it's our duty now, isn't it darling? They are us, and they've clearly been through a horrendous ordeal. You should see the other me ... what little of him is still left. Not to worry, though; our dear Alphys is already working on a new body for the poor fellow, and he'll be up and dancing in no time!"

"Special commendation is being given to Papyrus, master chef and current contestant on the highly rated 'Royal Knights' program hosted by Captain Undyne, for assisting with the evacuation efforts. When asked about his heroic assistance, he simply stated, 'It was the right thing to do, and I'm sure any civic-minded member of UNDR would have done the same'. Good job, Papyrus, and good luck in next week's trials."

Jake was suddenly back in the snow fields, a few feet from the remaining shard. Confused as to what had just happened, he slowly took a few more steps toward the power source. His visual sensors could make out that the object was glowing.

He was less than a foot away when he found himself again transported somewhere else; this time, he seemed to be on the surface, where Toriel and a man wearing an orange exosuit and a well-dressed woman with tan skin and short hair were shaking hands amidst a crowd of humans and monsters.

"Thank you, President Freeman." Toriel said, bowing her head first to the woman then to the man before glancing around at the assembly. "I knew one day we would return to the surface, but I always feared that it would be amidst the bloodshed of a new war. That humanity and its allies have welcomed us so readily shows how wrong I was. May this day be remembered as the first of a long and prosperous union between our peoples!"

The crowd erupted into cheering, be they human, monster, or beings that Jake didn't recognize. He did spot someone he did recognize, however; beside a young bossun man and a tall lizard man with no arms stood Glen Adams Soleil, clapping the metal hands of Headache and letting out a loud shout.

Jake took a step toward her, only to find himself back in the Snowdin fields. Now thoroughly perplexed, he walked toward the source of the light and energy. He could almost make out the shape amid the falling snow as he reached out to touch it with a metal paw ...

... only to find himself standing in a field of what appeared to be grass, but registered to his sensors as gold. He barely had time to register this before he heard a loud and vaguely feminine voice say, "I'll make sure Skyway HQ gets your request. I tell ya, when people hear 'bout dis place, de'll be comin' in droves."

Jake turned in time to see a massive stone woman walking beside two metal men, one short and the other tall. The tall one nodded and said, "Excellent. When they see how fantastic the Precious Meadows are, they'll surely be overwhelmed by the urge to stay."

"Not to mention that we'll be able to trade for goods with Nowhere." Said the shorter metal man. "Maybe even get to visit one day."

"Now, Beget." Said the tall man, putting a hand on the shorter man's shoulder. "We have plenty of work to do. Leaving Serenity Spire is one thing, but I'd like to make doubly sure that the Precious Meadows won't fall apart while we're gone."

Sighing, Beget said, "Yeah, you're right. At least we can step out every now and then, eh?"

Further conversation was interrupted as the metal and stone people were joined by two others; a bossun boy similar to the one from the previous anomaly and a young dark-furred feline girl with what appeared to be a three-eyed cat on her shoulder.

"Ready to go?" The bossun boy asked.

"Yeah, I guess it's 'bout that time." Golemite shook Archie's and Beget's hands. "Thanks again for fixin' me up."

"Hey, it was the gentlemanly thing to do." Beget said, his grin widening as though he'd said a joke.

"Beget." Archie said, rubbing his eyes.

Beget chuckled before turning his attention to the bossun boy. The boy offered his hand, but Beget hugged him instead.

"Thank you." Beget said.

"Anytime." The boy said back.

As they pulled away, Jake saw something glimmering on the boy's chest. Everything else faded back to snow, but the glimmer remained, coalescing into the glowing outline of a five-pointed star.

Jake slowly reached out and touched it, curious as to what it was that could create such illusions. The effect was instantaneous; light erupted from the star and coursed through Jake's frame like a an electrical surge. His entire body trembled, every sensor overloading as power coursed through his system, bringing with them a flood of images ... no, not images, memories. Finn Cresste, J-27, the Academy, the treasure of the League of One, Kyra'Shor vas Shepard, the Ulasomorf, the Sun-Cruncher, and the final memory before what he was had faded and EDI was reborn.

The next clear memory Jake had was waking up in Sans and Papyrus's house, the two skeletons and Frisk standing over him.

"Look, brother," Papyrus said, "I think his screen just flickered a little."

Frisk's small hands rested on Jake's side, tears of happiness in her eyes as he reloaded his normal face and slowly rose to his feet.

"There!" Papyrus said, "I told you Jake would be all right, didn't I?"

"You sure did, Pap." Sans said, but there was definite relief in the skeleton's eyes as he looked at Jake. "You okay, buddy?"

Jake stared at him, then at Papyrus, then at Frisk for a few moments.

"He might still be rebotting." Papyrus said with a frown.

"Robotting." Sans corrected with a grin, only for Frisk to smack him in the arm. "Kidding; rebooting. Yeah, makes sense, I guess. It'll probably take him a little time to-"

Jake laughed. The skeletons and the little girl stared at him in amazement as he let out a long mirthful guffaw, their shock turning to smiles as he continued.

"Jake?" Papyrus asked, clearly not sure what to make of this.

"Yup." Jake said, his face moving with his words. "I'm back, baby!"


End file.
